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INDIAN NOTES

AND Itf-

MONOGRAPHS

IX-X

•4

MUSEUM OF THE
AMERICAN INDIAN

INDIAN NOTES
AND MONOGRAPHS

*f*

A SERIES OF PUBLICA-
TIONS RELATING TO THE
AMERICAN ABORIGINES

VOL. IX, No. 1

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1920

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AND MONOGRAPHS

A SERIES OF PUBLICA-
TIONS RELATING TO THE
AMERICAN ABORIGINES

VOL. IX, No. 1

NEW YORK

MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN

HEYE FOUNDATION

1920

THE EARLIEST NOTICES

CONCERNING THE

CONQUEST OF MEXICO

BY CORTES IN 1519

MARSHALL H. SAVILLE

THE EARLIEST NOTICES CON-
CERNING THE CONQUEST OF
MEXICO BY CORTES IN 1519

By Marshall H. Saville

N the 10th of February, 1519,
Hernan Cortes set sail from
Cuba for Yucatan and the
coast of the present state of
Vera Cruz, Mexico, to follow up the
discoveries of a new country made respec-
tively in 1 517 by Francisco Hernandez
de Cordoba1 and in 1518 by Juan de
Grijalva.2 Cortes arrived at the island
of San Juan Ulua on Thursday, April 21,
1 5 19. Bernal Diaz, one of the com-
panions of Cortes and a member of the
two previous expeditions, wrote about
the landing as follows:

"The next day, which was Good Friday, we
disembarked with the horses and guns, on some
sand hills, which rise to a considerable height,

INDIAN NOTES

CONQUEST BY CORTES

for there was no level land, nothing but sand
dunes; and the artillery man Mesa placed the
guns in position to the best of his judgment.
Then we set up an altar, where mass was said,
and we made huts and shelters for Cortes and
the captains, and three hundred of the soldiers
brought wood and made houses for themselves,
and we placed the horses where they would be
safe, and in this way Good Friday was passed." 3

In a few days Cortes received a great
number of presents through the mes-
sengers and subject chiefs of Montezuma,
among them being two great discs, more
than six feet in diameter, one of gold
and the other of silver.4

Within a short time Cortes sent Fran-
cisco de Montejo on an exploring expedi-
tion up the coast, and on his return he
reported finding a better place for head-
quarters, where there was a port sheltered
from the north winds. Some time during
May or June (the exact date has not been
determined) the entire party removed to
this region, and preparations were made
to establish a permanent town. This
was soon accomplished, and the settle-
ment was given the name of Villa Rica

INDIAN NOTES

NEW SEVILLE

de la Vera Cruz.5 It was close to the
Indian town of Quiahuiztlan, which was
called the port of Archidona.6 Not far
distant was the important city of Cempo-
alla, the chief settlement of the region,
occupied by Indians of the Totonacan
stock. Cortes gave it the name of New
Seville.7 The inhabitants of this part
of the country were at that time under
the subjection of Montezuma, and be-
cause of excesses of the Aztecan tribute-
gatherers, they became willing allies of
the Spaniards.

Cortes resolved to send to Spain a
report of his discoveries, along with the
presents he had received. He wrote a
long letter, which has not come to light;
the authorities of the new town also pre-
pared an extended report, together with
an inventory of the treasure,8 and Alonso
Portocarrero and Francisco de Montejo
were chosen to take charge of the ship
in which were to go six Indians, to show
the King what manner of people in-
habited the new land. The little vessel
left Mexico, July 16; a stop was made in

AND MONOGRAPHS

CONQUEST BY CORTES

Cuba, contrary to the definite orders of
Cortes, and the ship finally arrived in
Seville, November 5, 1519, nearly four
months after the departure from Mexico.
The arrival of the treasure ship imme-
diately excited those who saw the wonder-
ful objects and heard the reports of the
cities with stone buildings, paved streets,
and public squares. No doubt many
letters were written by those who had
remained behind in the new town, and
those in Spain who talked with the sailors
were not long in spreading the news.
The object of this paper is to call atten-
tion to several letters of this character.
In 1866, Frederick Muller, the book-
seller in Amsterdam, received in a pur-
chase of books from a great Austrian
library, a precious little manuscript,
containing three letters written in Ger-
man, relating to the conquest of Mexico
in 1 5 19 by Hernan Cortes. It consisted
of two folio sheets folded into eight pages,
probably taken from an old account book,
and was wrapped in a page of ancient
music, with a pasteboard cover. Two

INDIAN NOTES

THE GERMAN LETTERS

pages are blank, and the three letters
are preceded by the general title, "News
how the men of our most gracious
Sovereign King of Rome and Spain have
found a most costly new country," with
the date 1520. The writing is cursive
and difficult to read in certain parts, and
dates certainly from the first part of the
sixteenth century. In 1871 Muller pub-
lished the manuscript under the title,
"Trois Lettres sur la decouverte du
Yucatan et les merveilles de ce pays.
Ecrites par des compagnons de l'expedition
sous Jean de Grivalja [sic], Mai 1518.' '
The edition was limited to thirty num-
bered copies, printed on old paper. The
original German text appears first, in
Gothic characters cast in 1480, then
follows a transcription in modern German
in Elzevir type, finally a translation into
French, printed in type from the Plantain
press, cast in 1555. The original manu-
script was offered for sale for 120 florins,
in Muller's catalog issued in 1872. Here,
in describing the item, he corrects the
mistake made in the title of his publica-

AND MONOGRAPHS

CONQUEST BY CORTES

tion of the letters, in which he mentions
them as relating to the expedition of
Grijalva to Yucatan in 1518.9

These letters are highly important, and
form source material of value concern-
ing the early stages of the conquest of
Mexico. The first letter was undoubtedly
written in Spanish and sent by a servant
to his master, by one who accompanied
the expedition of Cortes from Cuba to
the shores of the present state of Vera
Cruz. The German translation at hand
evidently omits personal matters, and
gives only that which calls attention to
the interesting discoveries made and the
treasure obtained by Cortes. It was
written in the city named New Seville by
Cortes, "in the port of Archidoma [sic],
the 28th of June, 1518." New Seville,
as has been said, was the large Totonacan
city of Cempoalla, and Archidona was a
town not far distant, the Indian name
of which was Quiahuiztlan. According
to Bernal Diaz this place was a fortress-
like town on a plain, half a league from
where the Spaniards established their

INDIAN NOTES

FIRST LETTER

first settlement in Mexico, to which they
gave the name Villa Rica de la Vera
Cruz. The ruins of Cempoalla still exist,
and show the remains of one of the most
interesting of ancient Mexican cities.
The site is about sixteen miles from the
coast. Cortes made the place his head-
quarters, and thence set out on his
memorable trip into the unknown inte-
rior to visit Montezuma in Tenochtitlan,
his stronghold, in the valley of Mexico.
The date of the letter indicates that it
was written a little more than two weeks
before the ship which carried the treasure
and the reports of the progress of the
expedition was despatched to Spain.
The inventory accompanying the treasure
was signed on July 6, and the letter sent
by the town council of the new town is
dated July 10. The ship sailed, as
recorded by Cortes, on July 16. This
letter is one of the six extant accounts
written by eyewitnesses of this early
period of the conquest of Mexico. First,
is the collection of letters by Cortes.10
Next in order, and far more instructive,

AND MONOGRAPHS

CONQUEST BY CORTES

is the History of the Conquest, by Bernal
Diaz del Castillo.11 Then we have the
so-called Anonymous Conquerer.12 These
three sources have been known for a long
time, and have been utilized by writers
of the subject. In 1866, Icazbalceta
published for the first time the fourth
source from an eyewitness, the Relacion
of Captain Andres de Tapia.13 The
letter under consideration was printed
in 1 87 1, but the edition is so small that
it can hardly be said to have been made
known. The sixth account, entitled His-
toria de la Nueva Espana, was found by
Paso y Troncoso in Spain in 1892, and was
published in tomo vii of the Anales del
Museo Nacional de Mexico in 1900; it is
by Francisco de Aguilar, and is quite im-
portant, although it adds little to what
may be gathered from the writings of
Cortes and Bernal Diaz.14 As first-hand
information these accounts are in a class
by themselves, and must be considered
as distinct from the many histories relat-
ing to the events of this epoch which
appeared later.

INDIAN NOTES

SECOND LETTER

The second letter published by Muller
is a copy of one written in Seville, dated
November 7, to be sent to Juan de la
Pena in Burgos. From this letter, and
the third one which bears the same date,
we obtain the exact time of the arrival
of the treasure ship in Seville, for both
state that the vessel reached there two
days before, hence, on November 5, 1519.
This date is absolutely corroborated by
the list found by Munoz in the Manual
del Tesorero of the Casa de Contratacion
of Seville, which states that the presents
were received there on Saturday, Novem-
ber 5, 1519,15 evidence that such a rich
treasure was not allowed to remain on
the ship, but was delivered to the authori-
ties for safekeeping the very day of
arrival, as might be expected. The
writer of this second letter relates briefly
what he gleaned from conversation with
those who came on the caravel. He
speaks of Cempoalla (under the name of
New Seville), and also mentions briefly
some of the objects of gold and silver.
We shall refer to this letter again.

AND MONOGRAPHS

CONQUEST BY CORTES

The third letter is very short; it was
written in Seville, November 5, by a
servant named Diego Dienz, of one Diego
Dicharo, to Gencato y Almacon in
Burgos. Like the other two, it calls
attention to the large cities discovered
and the gold treasure found in New
Spain, which they then called Yucatan.

Another letter of the same tenor,
written in Spanish, was brought to light
by Cesareo Fernandez Duro in 1885, and
published by him as the First Notices of
Yucatan.16 This letter, which was found
in the archives of the Royal Academy of
History in Madrid, was reprinted in 1898,
in the introduction to the first volume of
the Relaciones de Yucatan, published in
the Coleccion de Documentos de Ultramar,
tomo xi.17 The editor thinks there is
no doubt that this letter refers to the
arrival of a vessel, either during the
last months of the year 151 8 or at the
beginning of 15 19, which brought the
first news of the discovery of Yucatan.
If this is true, the ship was the one which
brought the news of the discoveries made

INDIAN NOTES

ANOTHER LETTER

in Yucatan and along the coast of
Mexico in 151 8 by Juan de Grijalva, and
also the treasure obtained from the
Indians at that time. A comparison of
this letter published by Fernandez Duro
with the second Muller letter, shows such
similarities that there can be no doubt
that the German copy was a translation
hastily made of one in Spanish similar
to that published by Fernandez Duro.
The Spanish letter is addressed to the
Archbishop of Granada, President of the
Council, while the German one is ad-
dressed to Juan de la Pena in Burgos.
There are slight minor differences to be
noted, but the general details of the two
letters are the same. These differences
may be due to carelessness on the part
of the German translator, who hastened
to send the news of the great discovery
to Austria. The truth seems to be that
the same person wrote similar letters
to at least two different individuals, one
in Granada and the other in Burgos. It
is indeed fortuitous that after the lapse
of centuries both the German and the

AND MONOGRAPHS

CONQUEST BY CORTES

Spanish epistles should come to light at
about the same t: That Fernandez
Duro was unawa of the publication
of a German rendering of thii -r mation
is not strange, when we uder the
extremely small edition published by
Muller. The context of the Spanish
letter proves beyond doubt that it refers
to the arrival of the vessel sent home by
Cortes.

Two great discs, one of gold, the other
of silver, likened by the early writers to
wheels, were the most imposing of the
gifts sent by Cortes. In the list of
presents brought to Cuba by Grijalva in
1518, and sent to Spain by Governor
Velasquez, which is preserved in the
work of Gomara,18 no mention is made
of objects of this description, neither is
any reference thereto in the Itinerary of
Grijalva, written by Juan Diaz, the
chaplain of the fleet, nor in the work of
Oviedo y Valdes, who has given us the
most extended account of this expedi-
tion.19 These notable objects are de-
scribed or mentioned in all four letters to

INDIAN NOTES

THE GREAT DISCS 17

which we have just referred. Both Peter
Martyr 20 and Las as 21 saw them in

7 MprU^ * -vhere th had been sent for
tii^. ^ ^ of the King, in April, 1520.

Peter Ma ^ntc^ specifically that they
were sent by Cortes. Furthermore, they
are noted by all the eyewitnesses of the
conquest with the exception of Cortes.
The gold disc is catalogued in the Inven-
tory accompanying the specimens, drawn
up in July, 15 19, by Portocarrero and
Montejo, who brought the treasure to
Spain. We are at a loss to understand
why the silver disc is not mentioned in the
Inventory. A note that the presents were
delivered to Valladolid for the inspection
of the King during Holy Week, appears at
the end of the list. Finally, we would call
attention to the statement of Las Casas
that these pieces, the large gold and silver
discs, were sent to the coast of Mexico by
Montezuma in 151 8 to be given to
Grijalva, but when they arrived there,
Grijalva had already departed on his
return to Cuba,22 a statement also found
in Gomara.23

AND MONOGRAPHS

I. N. M., IX-

CONQUEST BY CORTES

The Spanish letter begins, as does the
German one, with the announcement that
the caravel arrived in Seville two days
before, hence the date when it was written
is certainly November 7, 15 19. This
date antedates by more than a year the
publication in Basel, in 1521, of the
account of the Grijalvaexpedition written
by Peter Martyr,24 but the Itinerary of
Grijalva, written by the chaplain of the
fleet, Juan Diaz, appeared earlier and
must be recognized as the first printed
notice of Yucatan. It was issued from
the press as an appendix to the Travels of
Ludovico Varthema, on March 3, 1520,25
several months after the arrival of the
treasure ship of Cortes, and a few weeks
before these gifts were seen by the King.

On March 17 of the same year there
appeared in Nuremberg a small tract of
12 pages by an anonymous author,
which contains a notice of discoveries of
Cordoba, Grijalva, and Cortes. Ban-
croft writes that it is a collection of
extracts from several letters to Charles V,
referring to Yucatan and forming an

INDIAN NOTES

CORDOBA'S VOYAGE 19

account of a recently discovered island,
describing its locality, and the customs
and habits of its inhabitants. On the
first page is mentioned the voyage of
Cordoba and the pilot Alaminos, made in
1 517 to the peninsula of Yucatan. On
the reverse of the first leaf, in the second
line begins an account of the voyage of
Juan de Grijalva, stating that he sailed
from the island (of Cuba) with three ships
and one brigantine, with 360 men, and
sailed to the land Iucatham and the island
Chosumellam (Cozumel). The notice of
this voyage is short, occupying this page
(38 lines) and two-thirds of the next page.
It then proceeds to relate some things
about the expedition of Cortes.

There seems to be a mistake in the date
of Cordoba's voyage, as the tract begins,
"Als man zalt nach Christi gefurt tau-
sendt funfshunderft und neunzehn Jar de
sechste Julii 1st von der Inseln genant
Fernandina auff dem meere gege dem
nidergang Eine der Inseln | so jetziger
zeit die Hispanier Indias nennen | ein
Schiffart der Spaniol mit zweiye grossen

AND MONOGRAPHS

CONQUEST BY CORTES

schiffen vund einem kleinerem | das man
verganto nennet | under dem Hauptman
Francisco von Cordoba. Schiffpatron |
oder Anthonio de Alaminos, dz sie auss
nacht parlichen Inseln ettlich einwoner zu
knechte hinf urte auss gangen," etc. The
date of sailing should be 1517 instead of
1 5 19. There is a copy of this rare tract
in the New York Public Library. The
full title is, "Ein ausszug ettlicher send-
brief dem aller durchleuchtigisten gross-
mechtigiste Fursten vnd Herren Carl
Romischen vnd Hyspanische Konig &c
vnserm gnedigen hern durch ire verordent
Hauptleut von wegen einer new gefunde
Inseln, der selbe gelegenheit vnd jnwoner
sitten vn geworineite inhaltend vor Kurt-
zuerschienen tagen zugesandt." Colo-
phon, "Niirmberg: Frederich Pepyus, 17
tag Marij, MDXX." This tract was
printed two weeks after the printing of
the Itinerary of Juan Diaz in Venice.

Another early anonymous publication
of the news of these discoveries has been
described by Harrisse. It is noted in
the Additions to his Bibliotheca Ameri-

INDIAN NOTES

LETTER ON GRIJALVA

cana Vetustissima, published in Paris in
1872. As this seems to be the only copy
known, we give in extenso what Harrisse'
writes about it. The title is, "Littera
madata della Insula de Cuba de India
in laquale se cotiene de le isnule Citta
Gente et animali nouamente trouate de
lanno AD. XIX. p li Spagnoli." It is a
quarto sine loco, with title one-leaf and
seven unnumbered leaves of text printed
in Roman characters. It is in the Mar-
ciana Library, Florence. Harrisse's de-
scription is:

"The present letter is an account of Grijalva's
expedition to Yucatan. It differs materially
from the description of Juan Diaz, as given in
the version published at Venice by Mat. Pagan
and Zorzi di Rusconi. It begins thus: 'A di
primo, del mese de Magio de questo pflte anno
1 5 19 [15 1 8]. Lo Signore Iohane de grisalua
capitanio magiore co.200 santi & dui nauigli e
vno brigantino se partimo de la insula chimata
Cuba e infra tre sequeti giorni hauessimo scoperto
terra' . . . and ends in this wise: 'E vn altro
di trouao carauela co victuaglia che mandaua a
nui lo signor Dego velasquez loco tenete dela
Isula de Cuba credcdo che hauessimo populato
in qualche loco e ne disseno che erano nella

AND MONOGRAPHS

CONQUEST BY CORTES

ditta insula de cuba quatro altri nauigli p venire
in nostro soccorso e cosi ne tornamo ala dita
insula de cuba dove fossimo resceputi dali nostri
no tropo volunuiera pche no haueuamo comin-
ciato a popular I vna de questi insule o netteuano
in ordine otto nauigli grossi p dar la volta co piu
gente a popular in qlche bon loco credemo sera la
nostra partita a principio del mese de Febraro
del anno M.D. XX. Finis. V.S.' "

An important tract, of which but two
copies are known, one in the New York
Public Library, the other in the John
Carter Brown Library, has been de-
scribed by Harrisse in his Bibliotheca
Americana Vetustissima (no. 101). It is
11 Anonymous — Within a border. Pro-
vinciae Sive Regiones In India Occiden-
tali Noviter Reperta In Vltima Navi-
gatione. Et Valleotti septima Martii.
Millesimo Quingentesimovigesimo.* Very
small 4to, fourteen unnumbered leaves,
including the title." Harrisse adds:
"The present is an account of the Con-
quest of Cuba by Diego Velasquez, and

* "Anglice: The provinces or regions in the
West Indies recently discovered in the last
navigation. Valladolid, March 7th, 1850 [1520]."

INDIAN NOTES

AUGSBURG TRACT

seems to be a translation into Latin of a
Spanish narration as yet unknown/'
As pointed out by Mr Wilberforce
Eames, who drew attention to this work,
the tract refers to the discovery of
Yucatan by Cordoba in 1517, and there
are reasons for belief that it was printed
in Cologne.

Another anonymous tract treating of
these early discoveries in Mexico was
printed in Augsburg, Germany, probably
in 1522. It is entitled, "Newe Zeitung
von dem Lande das die Sponier funden
haben ym 1521. iare genant Iucatan."
It bears no date, and but two copies are
known, one in the " Royal" Library in
Berlin, the other in the City Library of
Augsburg. The Berlin copy consists of
four leaves: on the first page is the title
and an illustration; on the second page
text; third page text and a repetition
of the illustration on the first page;
fourth page text; fifth page text and
an illustration; sixth page text; seventh
page text and a repetition of the engrav-
ing on the fifth page; eighth page text.

AND MONOGRAPHS

CONQUEST BY CORTES

According to Harrisse, who has described
the Augsburg example, the Berlin copy
lacks the last two leaves. He states that
the copy in Augsburg has title one-leaf,
and five unnumbered leaves. The illus-
tration in the Augsburg copy on the fifth
and seventh pages represents a town and
an island with the inscription, " Gross
Venedig," referring evidently to Tenoch-
titlan (City of Mexico), which was situ-
ated on an island in a lake intersected
by many canals. A facsimile of the
Berlin example was printed in an edition
of one hundred copies in 1873.

An exceedingly rare tract of this char-
acter, a copy of which is in the New York
Public Library, is "Ein schone Newe
zeytung so Kayserlich Mayestet auss
India yetz nemlich zukommen seind.
Gar hupsch vo den Newen ynseln, ynd
von yrem sytten Kurtweylig zu leesen."
(n.p., n.d.) Harrisse states that it con-
tains "an abridged account of the voyage
of Columbus, and of the conquest of
Mexico down to the year 1522, [and]
was printed, it is supposed, at Augsburg

INDIAN NOTES

FIRST GERMAN LETTER 25

by Sigmund Grimm, about 1522." He
gives in B.A.V., no. 115, a reproduction
of the engraved title-page.

The peninsula of Yucatan was dis-
covered in 1517 by Francisco Hernandez
de Cordoba, of which the only account
by an eyewitness is that of Bernal Diaz.
Grijalva was sent out the next year to
follow up this discovery, and his expedi-
tion coasted along the Mexican shores as
far north as Tuxpan. Cortes conquered
the country, and added this immense
territory to the realms of the sovereigns
of Spain.

Here follow translations of these four
interesting documents:

First German Letter

"News how the men of our most gracious
Sovereign King of Rome and Spain have
found a most costly new country.

"1520.

" The following is the copy of a letter
written by a servant to his master from
the new found land called Yucatan ,26

AND MONOGRA PHS

CONQUEST BY CORTES

"In the said letter there is contained
much that does not belong here; here
follows only the useful.

"The said servant was in the Indies or
the island of Cuba, from which he sailed
with three ships to discover new lands.
These three ships 27 were sent by Doctor
Velasquez, Governor of His Royal Ma-
jesty in the land of Cuba, and they have
found a great new people. The writer
of this letter traveled in the company of
a knight named Fernando Cortes, who
should travel with the new tidings to the
said Doctor Velasquez, Governor of the
island of Cuba. Therefore they have
traveled united to our Master and King,
bringing him the grand and wonderful
presents which were given by the peoples
of the said lands.

"From the new tidings from the land
named Yucatan which we have dis-
covered, E. G. should know that it is the
richest land in the world where were
found the following things. It has so
much gold innumerable or without com-
parison, and has much silver and precious

INDIAN NOTES

FIRST GERMAN LETTER

stones, namely, turquoise, garnets, rubies,
and many other necessary things accord-
ing to people who knew it. There are
many clothes of cotton richly worked
with figures sewed with a needle. One
can hardly tell what wonderful things
one finds in their houses; their bedsteads
are covered with canopies and other
costly cloths. The people of this land
are honest, and have extraordinarily
beautiful women. One cannot estimate
the value of the houses of the great lords,
neither are they comparable with those
in our land, because it is a great sight to
see the buildings of these countries, the
large halls, the entrances to the doors, the
courtyards, are built with much marble
and are decorated; all buildings are
painted in various colors. They have
many dwellings so that the king with all
his retinue may live comfortably therein.
It is hard to tell what curious things one
finds; their gardens are decorated with
trees, with tables for banquets wonder-
fully wrought. The cities are larger than
Seville; more than half of them have five

AND MONOGRAPHS

CONQUEST BY CORTES

miles of roads in length and breadth,
wonderously beautiful, with splendid
streets all of them beautifully paved;
all buildings are plastered inside with
teraltza, as white and pure as paper.
I could relate to E. G. almost 600,000
of these extraordinary things. I let E. G.
know that the first time we went on land
we spent 15 days in the great city.
There they brought us so many pieces of
worked gold that it is neither to believe
nor to relate. It has been related to
E. G. without doubt of the valuable
trinkets of gold and precious stones which
they carried with them to donate to the
Roman Royal Majesty, and as it might
occur that E. G. does not get a chance to
see these trinkets, I will herein describe
a few of these pieces which are being sent
on these ships to His Royal Majesty.

"Two round discs, one of fine gold, the
other of fine silver, finely worked with
beautiful figures out of free hand, which
were given to the Captain. The gold disc
is 7 palms broad, and 7 palms long; the
other of silver is the little finger smaller.

INDIAN NOTES

FIRST GERMAN LETTER

"Further; a head of a great snake or
dragon, that is a figure of very fine gold,
with gold teeth; this is a full palm broad,
and three fingers thick; note how large
this head is. The eyes are of costly
precious stones, and decorated with very
costly feathers.28

"Further; a great disc of precious
stones, which is on the inside and outside
lined with a tiger-skin, which skins are
very highly valued.

"Further; four necklaces with many
costly stones mounted in gold.

"Further; a horn of a sea-fish made of
gold, 2 palms long, and about 2 palms
broad, entirely of gold.

"Further; a head of gold, and many
other pieces of gold, silver, and precious
stones. I know nothing more to com-
municate to E. G. from here but that it is
the best country of all things in this
world. Written in the city named New
Seville, in the port of Archidoma,29 the
28th of June, 1519.

"Furthermore, there is contained in
said letter: the natives are of fairly good

AND MONOGRAPHS

CONQUEST BY CORTES

conservation and beautiful of body and
face; very wealthy; they are circum-
cised; they worship idols, and eat only
pur[?] bread; they have no other bread.
There are here a great many bees,
sekt(?), lots of wax, and big peaches.
It is believed that these natives have
peopled the land originally when Rome
was destroyed. It is a very friendly
people, and they have (manifested) great
joy that they have seen Christians, and
they themselves have brought the Chris-
tians among their people, and shown them
the land. Our Captain has honored their
King greatly by presents which they
have valued very highly. Of these 3
ships which Diego Velasquez sent to dis-
cover this land, he has sent over only
one, the others remain in the land with
about 50 men.30 They have built for-
tresses and castles.31 The presents sent
to our Lord and King. are valued at 15,000
Castile. It is all subtle and beautiful; it
is not known whether the land is a main-
land or not. This land has a lot of spice
which has the shape of nails [cloves]."

INDIAN NOTES

SECOND GERMAN LETTER 31

Second German Letter

" Here follows the copy of a letter from
Seville, November 7, written to Juan de
la Pena in Burgos.

"Two days ago a caravel arrived of
70 to 80 tons burden, from a new country
called Yucatan; it brought 50 Indians32
from the said land called Yucatan, and
they say that in their country about 15
or 20 years ago, 8 Castilian men from
this city of Seville were married there,
and that they are said to be very rich.
These men arrived at said time through
loss in a storm of a caravel, which had
gone out on discoveries; that is why the
caravel arrived, and these 8 men were
saved.33 It is a country with many cities
surrounded by walls like our city. And
the first city in which these Castilians or
Spaniards live is said to contain 500
men, and is situated at the entrance of a
port on the sea.34 Our Christians have a
separate dwelling on the outskirts of the
city, about an arquebus shot away, and
they are almost united with the other

AND MONOGRAPHS

CONQUEST BY CORTES

and trade daily with those of the city.
They have gone with a little boat 14
miles35 from said port inland, and have
found a city of 14,000 inhabitants or
men, and have given the city the name of
Seville the new one, or New Seville.36 It
is said to have strong walls and very
beautiful towers, beautiful palaces and
market places; there is also said to be a
great deal of commerce with the trades-
men. It is also said that higher up,
about 4 miles 37 above said port or waters,
there is a still larger city; and they are
said to have been there 10 days, and
(this city) is said to have 1000 inhabi-
tants.38 This I say according to what I
have heard from others who have been
there. Now I will tell also what I have

seen.

11 First, a bread (loaf) of gold bigger
than a wagon wheel, and in it there are
fashioned, just as one makes little objects
out of tin, some wild animals, and in the
center is the figure of a squatting wo-
man,39 called Dercemj [zemi],40 that
means the devil. This, Pedro Garcia de

INDIAN NOTES

SECOND GERMAN LETTER

Careon should understand very well. It
is wrought very well with many figures all
around, and the bread, or wheel, weighs
fully 150 marks of gold of the fineness
of 20 carat gold. Further, (they) bring
a wheel of fine silver, perhaps bigger
even than the abovementioned, and it
has a figure analogous to the one above
said. The figure is a man and the other
in the golden wheel a woman; then there
is still another wheel or disc with 5 round
gold discs, beautifully wrought, and very
hard and firm, with feathers or feather
tufts, exceedingly subtle and beautifully
adorned. Further, 8 boxes in which
there are different and curious things of
gold, of which much could be written,
but it is such a great quantity of gold
that one can estimate it as 25,000 pesos
of gold.

"Further, one has given there for a
piece of crystal, which is here worth 2
maravedis, 500 pesos, and the Indians
desire it very much. They tell of the
most marvelous things that have ever
been heard of. It is impossible to write

AND MONOGRAPHS

CONQUEST BY CORTES

about (them). And how they finally got
at them? I could not learn; later I will
be able to write you about all of it in
detail, that E. G. will learn of the great
miracles and signs of God, that one has
found so many things.

''They further say, that the Lord of
their land is more attended to than the
Emperor, in great state and triumph; he
has io porters before one arrives where
the King is, and in the kitchen where his
meals are prepared there are 20 women."41

Third German Letter
" Follows copy of a letter from Seville,
November 7, written by Diego Dicharo's
servant, whose name is Diego Dienz, to
Gencato y Almacon in Burgos.

"I give E. G. to know that two days
ago a caravel has arrived here which
comes from a country called Yucatan;
this, Diego Velasquez of Cuba has sent
to discover, and they bring great news,
that is, that they have found the richest
land that may exist; that they have
found therein cities of 20,000 homes, and

INDIAN NOTES

THIRD GERMAN LETTER

especially one in which there are said to
be 50,000 fires or inhabitants. And the
houses are of stone, and the land is very
beautiful, and rich in grazing, mountains
and game like in our countries; also
exceedingly fertile, especially in gold.
And they bring outside of many pieces,
two big wheels, one of gold, weighing
30,000 of Castile; one of silver weighing
50 marks; the piece is as big as a mill-
stone.42 It is to be understood that if
there are so many such things which one
must consider as being the truth, that the
peoples of this land have great abundance
of gold and silver. Their little vessels
and utensils which are used in the houses
(are) all of gold and silver, and they
give them away for little. These (re-
ports) are great news."

Spanish Letter
" The news which has come from Seville
of all that was brought by a caravel that
came from Tierra Firme, which was sent
to the Lord Archbishop of Granada,
President of the Council**

AND MONOGRAPHS

CONQUEST BY CORTES

"Two days ago there arrived here a
caravel of LXXX tons, which came from
this new land which they call Hiucata
[Yucatan]. It brought in it six Indians
from this same land. They say that
there are there (for the past) fifteen or
twenty years, eight Castilians of Seville
and of the country, and these men are
from a caravel which was lost, which
went to that land, from which (caravel)
these escaped, and they are there, married
and rich.

Tt is a land where there are towns
walled like those here, and also cities,
and in the first city, where the Spaniards
live, they say there are five hundred men
there, of four hundred inhabitants,44 and
it is at the mouth of a river which is close
to the sea, and the Spaniards who are
there have made another settlement out-
side of the city, a cross-bow shot away,
and they are there very friendly, and
trade one with the other.

"Fourteen leagues above the place
where the boat of this caravel went, they
found a city of XIIIJ U [14,000] inhabi-

INDIAN NOTES

^^^■ann

SPANISH LETTER

tants; they gave it the name New Seville,
and say that there are there towers, and
walls in it, and with very beautiful houses
and a town house, and all that there is
found in Seville, and plazas and markets,
and much traffic, and they say that XL
leagues above, there is another city larger
than the one they say, which might have
IX U [9000] inhabitants; this is by hear-
say, for they did not go there. Now I
wish to speak about what the caravel
brought, which I saw with my own eyes.

" First, a mass of gold as wide as a
cart-wheel; I say that it is worked, as
when they work over pitch, a great plate
of silver; there are in it several large
beasts; it has a mass in the center, with
the figure of a seated woman, which is,
one might say, the devil, and it is very
well made, and (there are) many other
pictures round about it, and this gold
wheel weighs fully one hundred and fifty
marks of gold of more than twenty carats.

''There is furthermore another wheel
of the same size, which is of fine silver,
and it has some figures, similar to the

AND MONOGRAPHS

CONQUEST BY CORTES

other, in the center, and this figure is a
male, and that of the gold one, a female;
and a round shield, with five plates of
gold, and worked out in an exquisite
manner, and a feather-piece worked par
excellence, and eight chests filled with
divers things, which it would take too
long to recount, in which there are head
armor of gold, and mortars of gold, and
bows and arrows of gold, and such a
quantity of gold that they say there is
more than twenty five pesos of gold, only
in these things, and all of this they say,
was shown (to them) by the principal
Indians, and from them was bartered.
For a crystal that is worth two maravedis,
they [the Indians] gave five hundred pesos
of gold, and in this manner all other
things (in) proportion. They speak of so
many marvels that one cannot write
(about them).

"They say that the Lord of all this
land is served better than an Emperor,
with more triumph [state]; that he has
ten gate-keepers before one reaches where
he is, and in the kitchen where the food

INDIAN NOTES

NOTES 39

is prepared, they say there are easily
two hundred women, so well kept is the
house."

NOTES

i. A study of documentary material regarding
the motives underlying the despatch of the expe-
dition under the command of Cordoba, and the
question of the landfall, has been recently pub-
lished by the writer, "The Discovery of Yucatan
in 1 51 7 by Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba,"
in The Geographical Review, New York, vol. vi,
no. 5, November, 19 18.

2. The " Itinerary" of Juan de Grijalva, written
by the chaplain of the fleet, was published in
Italian by Ludovico de Varthema in his work
entitled " Itinerario de Ludouico Varthema Bo-
lognese ne lo Egypto ne la Suria ne la Arabia
deserta & Felice ne la Persia: ne la India: & ne la
Ethiopia. La fede el uiuiere & costui de le pfate
puicie. Et al psente agiotoui alcue isole noua-
mete ritrouate. [Wood-cut.] [Colophon:] H Im-
presso in Venetia per Zorzi di Rusconi Milanese.
Nellanno della Incarnatione del nostro Signore
Ieso Christo. M.D. XX. adi III. de Marzo. Reg-
nando lo inclito Principe Duca de Venetia.
Registro. ABCDEFGHIKLMN Tutti
sono Quaderni." 103 unnumbered leaves. On 85b
begins: "^ Itinerario de larmata del Re Cath-
olico in India verso la Isola de Iuchathan del
anno. M. D. XVIII. alia qual su presidete &
Capitan General loan de Grisalua elqual e facto

AND MONOGRAPHS

CONQUEST BY CORTES

per El Capellano maggior de dicta armata a
sua alteza." It was translated into French
by Ternaux-Compans, and published in vol. x
of his Voyages, Relations et Memoires Orig-
inaux pour Servir a VHistoire de V Amerique,
Paris, 1838. A translation into Spanish was
published by Joaquin Garcia Icazbalceta in his
Coleccion de Documentos para la Historia de
Mexico, tomo. 1, pp. 281-308, with parallel
Italian text. This has been translated into Eng-
lish by the writer and will appear as vol. in of
the Publications of the Cortes Society.

3. The edition of Bernal Diaz del Castillo con-
sulted is the translation made by Alfred P.
Maudslay, published by the Hakluyt Society in
five volumes, the 2d Series, vols. 23-25, 30, and
40, London, 1908-16. See vol. 1, book iii,
chap, xxxviii, p. 137.

4. An extended study of these objects, based on
documentary material, has been made by the
writer in his work, "The Goldsmith's Art in
Ancient Mexico," to be published in this series.

5. On this subject consult the work of Bernal
Diaz, op. cit.

6. A document entitled " Escriptura convenida
entre Hernando Cortes e el regimiento de la
Villa-Rica en la Vera Cruz, sobre defensa de sus
habitantes y derechos que habia de recaudar.
Agosto 5 de 1 5 19," published in Coleccion de-
Documentos Ineditos del Archivo de Indias, tomo
xxvi, Madrid, 1876, begins as follows: "En el

INDIAN NOTES

NOTES

pueblo de Campual [Cempoalla], que agora es
nombrado Sevilla, termino e xurisdiccion de la
Villa-Rica de la Vera Cruz del Puerto de Archi-
dona." In the same volume of the Coleccion is
another document, " Presentaciones e Xura-
mentos de los testigos que presento la parte del
Marques del Valle para en prueba de sus des-
cargos. Abril de 1534," in which is the following:
"Lo que sabo de la dicha pregunta, es que dende
a pocos dias queste testigo llego en la dicha villa
de la Vera Cruz, primeramente poblada, el dicho
Don Hernando Cortes se aposento en un pueblo
alto ques cerca de la dicha villa, que los Indios
llaman Quiabstlan [Quiahuiztian] e los espafioles
por estar alto posieron Archidona."

7. The ruins of the city of Cempoalla remained
in obscurity from the time of its fall and decay
during the latter part of the sixteenth century,
until 1883, when Herman Strebel published in
Hamburg an account of the ruins, with plans of
some of the structures. It does not appear that
Strebel had visited the ruins at that time, but
derived his information from others. In 1891,
a commission under the leadership of Francisco
del Paso y Troncoso made a survey of the ruins,
and in 19 12 a report of the results of the expedi-
tion, edited by Jesus Galindo y Villa, "Las
Ruinas de Cempoala," was published in the
Anales del Museo Nacional de Mexico, New
Series, tomo in. In 1905, Dr J. Walter Fewkes
visited the region and has published an important

AND MONOGRAPHS

CONQUEST BY CORTES

study of the subject, "Certain Antiquities of
Eastern Mexico," in the 25th Annual Report of
the Bureau of American Ethnology, for 1003-04,
Washington, 1907. The writer spent two days
at the ruins in January 1898, and made a survey
and plan of one of the temples.

8. A translation of this Inventory will be found
in the writer's work, "The Goldsmith's Art in
Ancient Mexico," op. cit.

9. The copy of this rare work in the library of
the writer seems to be a printer's first issue of
the Letters. It lacks the first viii pages com-
prising the title-page and introduction, has an
extra line of type to the page, and the French
rendering is different in a number of cases.
The paper is also larger and the sheets uncut.
While the present study of these letters was in
type, we obtained a copy of the regular edition,
formerly in the Medlicott library. In it was a
folded sheet containing two columns of galley
proof of an article entitled " Conquest of Mexico,"
being a review of the Trois Lettres, signed with
the initials "C. H. B." No date or place of
publication is given, but we have traced it to the
American Bibliopolist, vol. 4, nos. 43 and 44,
published by Joseph Sabin and Sons, New York,
1872. There can be no doubt that it was
written by the well-known Mexicanist, Carl
Hermann Berendt, as he was in the United
States during the years 1872-73, and published
a number of papers at that time. As this review
is important, we reprint it in extenso.

INDIAN NOTES

NOTES

"CONQUEST OF MEXICO.

" Our bibliophiles may perhaps have noticed in
the Catalogue of Books, Maps, Plates on America,
etc., published by Fr. Muller, Amsterdam, (See
our May number, p. 252) under No. 1144, the
description of a German manuscript, of the year
1520, containing copies of three letters, relating
to the 'new found land Yucatan.' From this
manuscript, Mr. Muller has issued an edition of
30 copies, printed by .Enschede (Harlem), on
old paper, with real old gothic characters from
the 15th century, together with a version into
modern German, printed with Elzevirian types,
and another, modern French, printed with
characters de civilite, both from the 16th century.
A copy of this curious and beautiful plaquette
has just reached us. It is a small 8vo, with the
title: Trots Lettres sur la Decouverte du Yucatan,
et les Merveilles de ce Pays. Ecrites par des com-
pagnons de V expedition sous Jean de Grivalja (sic)
May, 1 5 18; viii and 35 pages; on the last, un-
numbered, printers escutcheon, name, year, etc.
We note at once some slight mistakes on the
title page. These letters do not refer to the
expedition of Grijalva (not Grivalja) to Yucatan,
but to Cortes, landing on the Culhuan (Mexican)
coast at the actual site of the city of Vera Cruz,
and the letters are not written by companions
of either, but one by a companion of Cortes, and
the two others by persons in Spain. The
countries, discovered and conquered by Cortes,

AND MONOGRAPHS

CONQUEST BY CORTES

were for years called Yucatan, until the name
New-Spain had been introduced and g nerally
accepted. So was the title of the dominican
friar Julian Garces, the first bishop appointed
for Mexico, until the year 1526, 'Bishop of
Yucatan.' It seems to be in consequence of a
similar mistake that we find Hernando de Gri-
jalva's expedition to the Northwest, which sailed
from the Yucatan port, called the 'Bay of San-
tiago de Buena Esperanza,' (either the port
Huatulco or La Ventosa, in the State of Oaxaca),
recorded in a monograph of works on Central
America.

" The first letter, written by one of the com-
panions of Cortes, is given in extract only, and
that seems to have been translated from the
Spanish. It bears the date 'New Sevilla,'
(the name given by the Spaniards to the To-
tonaco-town Cempoallan) in the port ' die Arch-
idoma,' on the 28th of June, 1519. This
was about a week before the appointment of
the municipality of the 'Villa Rica de la Vera
Cruz.' Cortes' first (lost) Carta de Relacion,
and the letter of the new Ayuntamiento, were
written on the 6th of July, and Francisco de
Montejo, who was sent to Spain with them and
with the first presents received from Montezuma,
must have taken with him among the letters,
'written by officers and soldiers,' this one to
the mother country. He sailed the 20th of
July, and arrived in San Lucar in October of

INDIAN NOTES

NOTES

the same year. The other two letters, dated
Se villa (52 miles from San Lucar), on the 7th of
November (no year is given, but evidently the
same year, 15 19), give reports of the arrival of
the news and treasure from the new discovered
countries to some parties in Burgos. The
translator of the original into modern German
and French, seems not to have been sufficiently
versed either in the history of Cortes ' expedition,
or in the ancient German language. Interposing
a fancied punctuation, he turns the expedition,
sent by Velasquez, Governor in Cuba, into one
sent by Governor Velasquez to Cuba. He ought
to have guessed that the tingrishaut which gave
him much trouble, as indicated by an interro-
gation within brackets, might be read tiegrishaut
(tiger-fell), the German written e, being very
similar to the n.

" There are some discrepancies in the report, of
which one at least is not easily explained. The
writer mentions repeatedly that the expedition
consisted of three ships, while we know that their
number was eleven, a fact which scarcely could
be ignored by a member of the expedition. It
is also here asserted that the news were to be
sent to Velasquez, and that the writer had been
destined to go with the bearer, while it is known
that Montejo had strict orders not to land in
Cuba, but to proceed directly to Spain. But it
seems by no means impossible that such rumor
had been spread purposely, in order to deceive

AND MONOGRAPHS

CONQUEST BY CORTES

the friends of Velasquez among the expeditionists,
and that the writer was not aware of Montejo's
real instructions. The description of the presents,
to be forwarded to Spain, enters into some details
which we do not remember to have seen given by
the contemporanean writers. The evident exag-
geration is fully in accordance with the boasting
character of a Spanish adventurer and conqueror.
Discrepancies in the two other letters are of less
weight; so the item that Monte jo brought 50
Indians with him (in a ship of 70 to 80 tons);
the weight of the gold-wheel given at 30,000
Castellanos (300 Spanish pounds, while it weighed
only 20). They do not affect the credibility so
much, as the writers gave their information,
probably, on hear-say.

"Altogether, we consider this print not only of
value as a typographical curiosity, but also of
some historical importance; not to speak of the
high estimation it will meet for existing in a
number of thirty copies. C[arl]. H[ermann].
B[erendt]."

10. The letters of Cortes to the King were
printed soon after their receipt in Spain. As has
been already stated, the first letter sent from the
coast has not been found; the second letter was
written from a newly founded town, not far from
the present city of Puebla, named Seguara de la
Frontera; it is dated October 30, 1520, and was
printed by Juan Cromberger in Seville, November
8, 1522. The third letter was written in Coyoacan,

INDIAN NOTES

NOTES

near the City of Mexico, on May 15, 1522. It
was also printed by Cromberger in Seville,
March 30, 1523. The fourth letter was written in
Tencochtitlan (now the City of Mexico), October
15, 1524, and was printed in Toledo, October 20,
1525. We use the translation of Francis A.
MacNutt, "The Letters of Cortes to Charles V,"
two volumes, New York, 1908.

11. The first issue of the work of Bernal Diaz
was in 1632. We use the edition of the Hakluyt
Society, op. cit.

12. The short but valuable account of the
Anonymous Conqueror appeared in Italian in the
Collection of Ramusio in 1556. A translation
into French was published by Ternaux-Compans
in tome x of his "Recueil de Pieces relatives a la
Conquete du Mexique," of Voyages, Relations et
Memoires Originaux pour servir a VHistoire de la
Decouverte de V Amerique, Paris, 1837-41. A
translation into Spanish was published by
Joaquin Garcia Icazbalceta, in Coleccion de
Documentos para la Historia de Mexico, tomo I,
Mexico, 1858. The writer has made an English
translation which appears as vol. 1 of Documents
and Narratives Concerning the Discovery and Con-
quest of Latin America, published by the Cortes
Society in 19 17.

13. The important account of the conquest of
Mexico by Captain Andres de Tapia was pub-
lished for the first time by Icazbalceta in his
Col. de Doc. para la Hist, de Mex., tomo 11, Mexico,

AND MONOGRAPHS

CONQUEST BY CORTES

1866. An English translation has been made
by Randolph M. Saville and will appear as
vol. v of the Publications of the Cortes Society.

14. The account of Francisco de Aguilar was
not written until the author was an old man, and
then at the importunities of some of his fellow
priests. It was sent to the Archbishop of Mexico
in 1579. Diego Duran obtained much informa-
tion from Aguilar when writing his Historia de
las Indias de Nueva Espana, and placed more
weight on his testimony than that of the Indians
and their paintings from whom he derived the
greater part of the material for his history. He
writes of him, "fray Francisco de Aguilar per-
sona muy benerable y de mucha autoridad en
la orden del padre glorioso Santo Domingo."
(Hist, de las Ind. de N. E., t. 2, cap. lxxx, p. 82,
Mexico, 1880.) What may be an account of this
epoch was exhibited at the Columbian Historical
Exposition at Madrid in 1892. It is a letter of
Francisco de Monte jo describing the country in
the vicinity of Vera Cruz, and is from the
Archives of the Indies in Seville. We do not
know that it has been published.

15. See Coleccion de Documentos Ineditos para la
Historia de Espana, published by Navarrete,
tomo 1, Madrid, 1842.

16. "Primeras Noticias de Yucatan," by Cesa-
reo Fernandez Duro, in Boletin de la Sociedad
Geogrdfica de Madrid, tomo xix, Segundo Semes-
tre de 1880, pp. 336-342, Madrid, 1885.

INDIAN NOTES

NOTES 49

17. Introduction, pp. xxxv-xxxviii.

18. Francisco Lopez de Gomara, " Conquista
de Mexico, Segunda Parte de la Cronica de las
Indias," edition of Vedia, " Historiadores Primi-
tives de Indias," reprinted by Rivadeneyra in
Biblioteca de Autores Espanoles, tomo, 1, pp. 298-
299, Madrid, 1852.

19. G. F. de Oviedo y Valdes, "Historia Gen-
eral y Natural de la Indias," edition of the Real
Academia de la Historia, tomo 1, primera parte,
lib. xvii, caps, viii-xviii, pp. 502-537, Madrid,
1 85 1. These chapters have been translated into
English and will be printed by the Cortes Society
in the volume devoted to the expedition of
Grijalva in 15 18.

20. Peter Martyr, edition of Francis A. Mac-
Nutt, vol. 11, Fifth Decade, p. 106, New York,
19 1 2. This is an English translation from the
Latin of "De Orbe Novo."

21. Bartolomeo de Las Casas, "Historia de las
Indias," edition of Fuensanta del Valle and
Rayon, published in five volumes in Coleccion de
Documentos Ineditos para la Historia de Espana,
tomo iv, p. 486, Madrid, 1876.

22. Las Casas, op. cit., vol. iv, p. 436.

23. Gomara, op. cit., p. 313.

24. Peter Martyr, "De Nvper Sub D. Carolo
Repertis Insulis, simulat q'incolarum moribus R.
Petri Martyris, Enchiridion Dominae Margari-
tae, Diui, Max. Caes. Filiae Dictatum," Basiliae,
1521.

AND MONOGRAPHS

50 CONQUEST BY CORTES

25. See Note 2.

26. In these early days of the discovery of
Mexico, the name Yucatan was applied indis-
criminately to the entire coast and lands of the
Gulf of Mexico as far as Vera Cruz. The title
of the first printed letter (the second letter),
published early in November, 1522, contains the
statement of "innumerable lands and provinces
newly discovered in Yucatan, especially the very
large and rich province called Culua." Culua
was the name of the region in which Montezuma
held sway. The information contained in this
and the following letters shows conclusively that
the land of the present state of Vera Cruz was
described.

27. This is inaccurate. The so-called first
letter sent by the Municipality of the newly
founded colony, under date of July 10, 15 19,
says, "Hernan Cortes sailed upon his voyage
from the island of Fernandina [Cuba], having
ten caravels and four hundred men of arms."
In a recently discovered "memorial" sent by
Martin Cortes, father of the conqueror, to the
Royal Council, probably in March, 1520, in the
name of his son to solicit the favor of the Court
and to counteract the adverse influence of Diego
Velasquez and others unfriendly to him, a brief
statement is made regarding the expedition.
It relates that Cortes went out from Cuba,
"with seven caravels of his own, and three of the
said Diego Velasquez, with four hundred men, to

IX INDIAN NOTES

NOTES 51

barter at the island and land of Coluacan and
other parts." (Published by P. Mariano Cuevas,
"Cartas y otros Documentos Novisimamente
Descubiertos en el Archivo General de Indias
en la Ciudad de Se villa," Sevilla, 191 5-) Porto-
carrero, one of the two proctors sent by Cortes
with the loot to Spain, in a "declaration" made
in the city of Corufia, dated April 29, 1520,
states that he had heard "that of the ten ships
that went out in the fleet, three were those of
Diego Velasquez, and the seven belonged to
Cortes and his friends." {Doc. Ined. para la
Hist, de Espana, t. 1, p. 491, Madrid, 1842.)
Oviedo y Valdes (op. cit., t. 1, lib. xvn, cap.
xix, pp. 539-540) writes that Cortes went to
New Spain " with seven ships and three brigs
which Diego Velasquez had given him." Bernal
Diaz (op. cit., t. 1, cap. xxv, p. 90) asserts,
"There were eleven ships in all," in which state-
ment he is followed by Herrera. Peter Martyr
mentions the three brigs, but writes that in addi-
tion there were "ten caravels with five hundred
men." The statement in the German letter of
the three ships sent out by Velasquez, in which
the said servant sailed, corresponds to the "me-
morial" of Martin Cortes, and the statement of
Portocarrero so far as the ships owned by the
Governor are concerned. The failure to mention
the seven ships furnished by the conqueror seems
to be in line with the tactics of Cortes' enemies to
deliberately discredit him in Spain, and it is

AND MONOGRAPHS

CONQUEST BY CORTES

highly probable that his letter sent to the King
at that time, the missing first letter, was pur-
posely suppressed and perhaps destroyed.

28. This probably describes one of the so-called
helmets or masks, of which three examples are
now in the British Museum and several are in
Rome and Florence. Consult Maudslay's ap-
pendix to the work of Bernal Diaz, op. cit., vol. 1,
pp. 299-302.

29. The spelling here, "Archidoma," is wrong;
it should be Archidona.

30. This statement of fifty men remaining in
Mexico is manifestly an error. The number was
nearer five hundred. Bernal Diaz writes about
a muster of his forces held by Cortes on the island
of Cozumel, off the coast of Yucatan, and states
that they "numbered five hundred and eight
soldiers, not counting the shipmasters, pilots.
and sailors, who numbered about one hundred."
Op. cit., vol. 1, p. 92.

31. This refers to the building of the first settle-
ment made by the Spaniards in New Spain, the
town of Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz. Later the
town was removed to the south, halfway to the
place where they first landed, near the village
called Antigua on the present line of the Inter-
oceanic Railroad. It was again later removed
to the southeast to the present site, opposite the
island of San Juan de Ulua, the place of the
landfall on the coast, now the port of Vera Cruz.

32. The statement that fifty Indians were

INDIAN NOTES

NOTES

brought to Spain at this time is an error. Six
Indians were sent to show the King the kind of
people found in the new country.

33*. At the time of the voyage of Grijalva the
Spaniards heard rumors of some white men living
in Yucatan. Cortes was charged to make a
search for them, and bring them to Cuba. On
this voyage they learned that two were living.
One, Gonzalo Guerrero, refused to leave his
new home, for he had taken a wife, had children,
and occupied a position of importance among the
natives. The other, Geronimo de Aguilar, was
found. He joined the expedition and became a
valued assistant to Cortes. Having acquired
the Maya language, he was able to act as inter-
preter. Later, when the Indian girl Marina
was taken, the chain was complete, for she not
only understood the Maya language, but the
Mexican or Nahuatl, which was her mother
tongue.

34. This probably refers to the town of Villa
Rica de la Vera Cruz.

35. This statement seems to be inaccurate, for
the Spaniards probably went on foot to this town.
It is possible, however, that a few went on a
first trip up river in a canoe.

36. The Totonacan town of Cempoalla is here
referred to.

37. This assertion of a town only four miles
from the port (Archidona) being larger than New
Seville, or Cempoalla, is inaccurate.

AND MONOGRAPHS

CONQUEST BY CORTES

38. Here again the statement of a larger town
than New Seville (which is said to have had
14,000 inhabitants), and having 1000 inhabitants,
shows confusion and haste in preparing the letter.

39. The statement that the figure in the center
of the large gold disc represented a squatting
woman is interesting. Peter Martyr writes that
the figure resembled a king seated on his throne.
These are the only statements regarding the
character of the central figure of this wonderful
piece, which undoubtedly represented in its
entirety the Mexican calendar wheel.

40. The word Dercemj (Der cemj) is a corrup-
tion of the Antillean word zemi or zeme, the name
for an idol.

41. In the Spanish letter the number is given
as 200, which is probably correct.

42. Peter Martyr is the only other contempor-
ary writer who compares this great gold disc to a
millstone.

43. According to Fernandez Duro, the Arch-
bishop of Granada at this time, who was President
of the Council of the Indies, was Don Antonio de
Rojas.

44. This statement is very obscure. We have
translated literally the text as it appears in the
original Spanish.

INDIAN NOTES

INDIAN NOTES
AND MONOGRAPHS

Edited by F. W. Hodge

Vol. IX Hfi^UrafeS No. 2

A SERIES OF PUBLICA-
TIONS RELATING TO THE
AMERICAN ABORIGINES

BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTES ON
UXMAL, YUCATAN

MARSHALL H. SAVILLE

NEW YORK

MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN
HEYE FOUNDATION

1921

This series of Indian Notes and
Monographs is devoted primarily to
the publication of the results of studies
by members of the staff of the Mus-
eum of the American Indian, Heye
Foundation, and is uniform with His-
panic Notes and Monographs, pub-
lished by the Hispanic Society of
America, with which organization this
Museum is in cordial cooperation.

Only the first ten volumes of Indian
Notes and Monographs are numbered.
The unnumbered parts may readily be
determined by consulting the List of
Publications issued as one of the series.

INDIAN NOTES
AND MONOGRAPHS

Edited by F. W. Hodge

Vol. IX tefe?K-Ut*tei No. 2

A SERIES OF PUBLICA-
TIONS RELATING TO THE
AMERICAN ABORIGINES

BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTES ON
UXMAL, YUCATAN

MARSHALL H. SAVILLE

NEW YORK

MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN
HEYE FOUNDATION

1921

BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTES
ON UXMAL, YUCATAN

MARSHALL H. SAVILLE

BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTES ON
UXMAL, YUCATAN

By Marshall H. Saville

INTRODUCTION

XMAL is one ot the two most
important ruined cities of the
Maya in Yucatan, and in
some respects surpasses the
other city, Chichen Itza, in the grandeur
of its edifices. Certainly the House of
the Governor, still in a fair state of
preservation, is the most impressive
building in Central America. The group
of more or ess ruined structures must
have impressed the chroniclers, although
none of them, with a single exception,
have described in detail any of the build-
ings. It remained for an American ex-
plorer, John Lloyd Stephens, by his ac-

INDIAN NOTES

UXMAL

count of the ruins, accompanied by the
splendid drawings of his companion,
Frederick Catherwood, an Englishman,
to call attention to the wonders of Uxmal,
as well as of many other ruins in Yucatan.
Desire Charnay, a Frenchman, visited
Yucatan in 1857 and again in i860,
making superb photographs of a number
of the Uxmal edifices, which were issued
in an atlas in 1863. During the late
seventies the Le Plongeons spent con-
siderable time at the ruins, and Dr Le
Plongeon made many photog aphs, some
of which have been reproduced in num-
erous short articles of little scientific
value. In 1888, Mr Henry M. Sweet, a
member of the Thompson expedition sent
out by the Peabody Museum, Harvard
University, secured a number of views,
the collection being augmented later by
those taken by Mr Edward H. Thompson.
During his many years' residence in
Yucatan, Teobert Maler visited the ruins
repeatedly and made many beautiful
photographs of the site, including views
of parts of the ruins but little visited. In

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1910, Mr Jesse L. Nusbaum made about
sixty photographs for the Archaeological
Institute of America.

During their residence in Uxmal, the
Le Plongeons made molds of parts of
facades of some of the temples, and
Charnay on his later expedition, during
the years 1 880-1 882, molded sections of
some of the same structures. In 1892,
Mr Thompson made molds of sections of
the House of the Governor and of the
Nunnery Group, which were reproduced
as part of the exhibit of the Department
of Anthropology under the direction of
Prof. F. W. Putnam at the Worlds
Columbian Exposition in Chicago. These
are no longer in existence, but the molds
should have been preserved in Chicago,
as they were the most complete repre-
sentations of Mayan buildings thus far
produced.

In excavation, no work has been done
except the desultory digging of the Le
Plongeons, and the exploration of a
mound back of the hacienda building by
the writer. The site requires careful

AND MONOGRAPHS

UXMAL

exploration, and much restoration work
is necessary to strengthen weak walls,
especially to replace the wooden lintels
which have fallen in practically all of the
buildings, the loss of which will ulti-
mately prove fatal to the security of the
walls. As yet no complete plan has been
made of this important site, and a
systematic exploration will doubtless lead
to the discovery of much hieroglyphic
material, to throw needed light on the
history of one of the greatest of ancient
Mayan cities.

Regarding the origin of Uxmal, there
is a little folklore, which follows.

According to Bancroft, "the reign of
the Tutul Xius at Uxmal was doubtless
the most glorious period of Maya history,
but in addition to what has been said,
we have respecting it only a single tradi-
tion which seems to refer to the last king
and the overthrow of the dynasty."
Bancroft gives a paraphrase of this tradi-
tion, which was published in the Registro
Yucateco (tomo II, pp. 261-272, Merida,
1845). It is written in the form of a

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

dialogue between a visitor to the ruins
and a native of more than ordinary in-
telligence who professed to be well
acquainted with the historical traditions
of his race. The article is dated May 25,
1845, and is simply signed by the pseudo-
nym "Un Curioso." Bancroft's abridg-
ment is—

"An old sorceress lived at Kabah, rarely leaving
her chimney [sic] corner. Her grandson, a dwarf,
by making a hole in her water- jar, kept her a long
time at the well one day, and by removing the
hearth-stone found the treasure she had so care-
fully guarded, a silver tunkul and zoot, native
instruments. The music produced by the dwarf
was heard in all the cities, and the king of Uxmal
trembled, for an old prophecy declared that when
such music should be heard the monarch must
give up his throne to the musician. A peculiar
duel was agreed upon between the two, each to
have four baskets of cocoyoles, or palm-nuts,
broken on his head. The dwarf was victorious,
and took the dead king's place, having the Casa
del Adivino built for his palace, and the Casa de
la Vieja for his grandmother. The old sorceress
soon died, and the new king, freed from all re-
straint, plunged into all manner of wickedness,
until his gods, or idols, abandoned him in anger.
But after several attempts the dwarf made a new

AND MONOGRAPHS

UXMAL

god of clay which came to life and was worshipped
by the people, who by this worship of an evil
spirit soon brought upon themselves destruction
at the hands of the outraged deities, and Uxmal
was abandoned."

The story of the Casa del Adivino, also
called Casa del Enano, as related to
Stephens by an old Indian, differs some-
what from that given in the Registro
Yucateco. It follows:

"There was an old woman who lived in a hut
on the very spot now occupied by the structure
on which this building is perched, and opposite
the Casa del Gobernador, who went mourning
that she had no children. In her distress she
one day took an egg, covered it with a cloth, and
laid it away carefully in one corner of the hut.
Every day she went to look at it, until one morn-
ing she found the egg hatched, and a criatura, or
creature, or baby, born. The old woman was
delighted, and called it her son, provided it with a
nurse, took good care of it, so that in one year it
walked and talked like a man; and then it
stopped growing. The old woman was more
delighted than ever, and said he would be a great
lord or king. One day she told him to go to the
house of the gobernador and challenge him to a
trial of strength. The dwarf tried to beg off,
but the old woman insisted, and he went. The

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

guard admitted him, and he flung his challenge
at the gobernador. The latter smiled, and told
him to lift a stone of three arrobas, or seventy-five
pounds, at which the little fellow cried and
returned to his mother, who sent him back to say
that if the gobernador lifted it first, he would
afterward. The gobernador lifted it, and the
dwarf immediately did the same. The gober-
nador then tried him with other feats of strength,
and the dwarf regularly did whatever was done
by the gobernador. At length, indignant at
being matched by a dwarf, the gobernador told
him that, unless he made a house in one night
higher than any in the place, he would kill him.
The poor dwarf again returned crying to his
mother, who bade him not to be disheartened,
and the next morning he awoke and found him-
self in this lofty building. The gobernador, seeing
it from the door of his palace, was astonished, and
sent for the dwarf, and told him to collect two
bundles of cogoiol, a wood of a very hard species,
with one of which he, the gobernador, would beat
the dwarf over the head, and afterward the
dwarf should beat him with the other. The
dwarf again returned crying to his mother; but
the latter told him not to be afraid, and put on
the crown of his head a tortillita de trigo, a small
thin cake of wheat flour. The trial was made
in the presence of all the great men of the city.
The gobernador broke the whole of his bundle
over the dwarf's head without hurting the little

AND MONOGRAPHS

UXMAL

fellow in the least. He then tried to avoid the
trial on his own head, but he had given his word
in the presence of his officers, and was obliged
to submit. The second blow of the dwarf broke
his skull in pieces, and all the spectators hailed
the victor as their new gobernador. The old
woman then died; but at the Indian village of
Mani, seventeen leagues distant, there is a deep
well, from which opens a cave that leads under-
ground an immense distance to Merida. In this
cave, on the bank of a stream, under the shade
of a large tree, sits an old woman with a serpent
by her side, who sells water in small quantities,
not for money, but only for a criatura or baby to
give the serpent to eat; and this old woman is
the mother of the dwarf." — Incidents of Travel in
Central America, vol. II, pp. 423-425.

1556

[Document]

In 1842 John Lloyd Stephens visited Mani
in search of historical material relating to
the ruins of Uxmal. He was shown a "large
volume which had an ancient and venerable
appearance, being bound in parchment,
tattered, and worm-eaten, and having a flap
to close like that of a pocket-book. Un-
happily it was written in the Maya language,
and perfectly unintelligible. The dates,
however, showed that these venerable pages
were a record of events which had taken

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

place within a few years after the entry of
the Spaniards." Stephens had accurate
translations made by Don Pio Perez and
Father Carillo of the documents which
related to Uxmal. The earliest was dated
August 10, 1556, and is as follows:

"On the tenth of August, in the year one
thousand five hundred and fifty-six, the
special judge arrived with his interpreter,
Gaspar Antonio, from Vxmal, when they
reached this chief village of Mani, with the
other caciques that followed them, Don
Francisco Che, governor of Ticul, Don
Francisco Pacab, governor of Tekax, Don
Alonzo Pacab, governor of Jan, Don Juan
Che, governor of Mama, Don Alonzo Xiu,
governor of Tekit, with the other governors
of his suite, Don Juan Cacom, governor of
Tekoh, with Don Gaspar Fun, Don Juan
Carnal, governor of Nunhini, Don Francisco
Ciz, other governor of Cosuma, Don Juan
Cocom, governor of Zotuta, Don Gonzalo
Fuyu, governor of Tixcacaltuyti, Don Juan
Han, governor of Yaxcaba; those were
brought to this chief village of Mani from
Vxmal, with the others named, and the judge
Felipe Manrique, with Gaspar Antonio,
commissioned interpreter."

The rest of the document is omitted by
Stephens. See Incidents of Travel in Yuca-
tan, vol. 11, p. 268. *

AND MONOGRAPHS

UXMAL

1557

[Document]

Another document found in the volume
referred to bears the date 1557. It reads:

" Memorandum of having divided the lands
by D. Francisco Montejo Xiu, governor of
this pueblo of Mani, and the governors of the
pueblo who are under him.

"There met together Don Francisco
Montejo Xiu, governor of this pueblo, and
of the jurisdiction of Tutul Xiu; Don
Francisco Che, governor of Ticul, Don
Francisco Pacab, governor of Oxcutzcab,
Don Diego Vs, governor of Tekax, Don
Alonzo Pacab, governor of Jan-monal, Don
Juan Che, governor of Mama, Don Alonzo
Xiu, governor of Tekit, and the other
governors within the jurisdiction of Mani, to-
gether with the regidores, for the purpose of
regulating the landmarks, and maintaining
the right of each village respecting the
felling of trees, and to fix and settle with
crosses the boundaries of the milpas of their
respective villages, dividing them into parts
according to their situation, showing the
lands pertaining to each. The people of
Canul, those of Acanceh, of Ticoh, those of
Cosuma, those of Zotuta and its jurisdiction,
those of Tixcacab, a part of those of Peto,
Colotmul, and Zuccacab, after having con-
ferred together, declared it necessary to cite

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

the governors of the villages, and we an-
swered that they should come to this
audiencia of Mani, each one bringing with
him two regidores to be present at the divi-
sion of the lands Don Juan Canul, governor
of Nunkini, and Francisco Ci, his colleague;
D. Juan Cocom, governor of Ticoh, D.
Gaspar Tun of Cosuma, Don Juan Cocom,
governor of Sotuta, D. Gonzalo Tuyn,
governor of Tixcacab, D. Juan Han of
Yaxcacab; these received the donation on
the fifth day from Merida, consisting of one
hundred paties of fine sheets, each pati or
cotton cloth, and thus they continued re-
ceiving by twenties for a beginning, being
rolled up by Juan Nic, Pedro May, and
Pedro Coba, assembled in the house of Don
Francisco Monte jo Xiu, governor of the
village of Mani; three arrobas of wax, which
were sold by them, Don Juan Cocom of
Zotuta having first received them. In Tal-
chaquillo, on the road to Merida, toward the
north of said village, the cross was planted,
and called Hoal. In Sacmuyalna they put a
cross; this is the limit of the lands of those
of Ticoh. In Kochilha a cross was placed.
In Cisinil, Toyotha, Chulul Ytza, Ocansip,
and Tiphal, crosses were placed; this is the
boundary of the milpas and the lands of those
of Maxcanu-al Canules. In Kaxabceh
Chacnocac, Calam, Sactos, are the limits of

AND MONOGRAPHS

66 U X M A L

the fields of the Canules, and there crosses
were placed. In Zemesahal and in Opal
were planted crosses: these are the limits
of the grounds of the villagers of Kilhini and
Becal. In Yaxche, Sucilha Xcalchen, Te-
hico Sahcabchen Xbacal, Opichen, crosses
were planted. Twenty-two is the number
of the places marked, and they returned to
raise new landmarks, by the command of
the judge, Felipe Manriques, specially com-
missioned by his excellency the governor,
when he arrived at Uxmal, accompanied by
his interpreter, Gaspar Antonio," etc.

Stephens omitted the rest of the document.
See Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, vol. n,
pp. 266-267.

[Indian Map of Mani.]

In the same volume as the above. "The
original is a sheet of foolscap paper dated
1557. containing a map with Mani in the
center. Uxmal appears near the bottom,
and in place of the conventional church used
to indicate the other places on the map, a
building with three doorways and a fagade,
a typical Maya building, is shown with the
name 'Uxmal' below." Reproduced by
Stephens, ibid., vol. II, opposite p. 264

IX INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1581

Bote, Juan. Relation de Teav-Y-Tec
y Tiscolum. Colection de Docu-
ments Ineditos Relativos al Descn-
brimiento, Conquista y Organization
de las Antiguas Posesiones Espanoles
de Ultramar, Segunda Serie, t. xi,
Relaciones de Yucatan, I, Relacion
xxiv, p. 287, Madrid, 1894.

This is a report made in 1581. Section
xiiii reads: "At one time all of this land
vas under the dominion of a lord, and al-
though with the change and succession of
time, which have been many, the last lord
of them was a Tutulxiu, from whom de-
scended the native lords of the said town of
Mani of the Royal crown, and this [one]
subject to all the lords of the land more by
craft than by war, they say that the first of
them [was] called Hunuilkilchic, lord of
Uxmal, a very ancient settlement, very re-
markable in edifices usual in Mexico, and
from there he entered into all the other
provinces and from his greatness and
personality it is said that he was very learned
in native things and in his time taught them
to till the lands. He divided the months of
the year, and he taught them the letters

AND MONOGRAPHS

UXMAL

[hieroglyphic writing] which were used in the
said province of Mani when the conquerors
entered the land, and little by little the said
Tutulxius came to command all the lands
very much to the liking of the natives.''

1588

Ciudad Real, Ft. Antonio. Relacion
breve y verdaderade algunas cosas de
las muchas que sucedieron al Padre
Fray Alonso Ponce en las prov'ncias
de la Nueva Espafia, siendo Com-
isario General de aquellas partes.
Tratanse algunas particularidades de
aquella tierra, y dicese su ida a ella y
vuelta a Espafia, con algo de lo que
en el viaje le acontecio hasta volver
a su Provincia de Castilla. Escrita
por dos Religiosos, sus compafieros,
el uno de los cuales le acompano
desde Espafia a Mexico, y el otro en
todos los demas caminos que hizo y
trabajos que paso. Ahora por pri-
mera vez impresa. Tomo II, pp. 455-
461. Coleccion de Documentos In-
editos para la Ilistoria de Espafia, t.
lviii, Madrid, 1875.

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Father Alonso Ponce came to America in
1584 as Commissary General. His visit to
Uxmal was made just before he left Yucatan
to return to Spain. On his travels he was
accompanied by two priests, said to have
written the above report as indicated in the
title. These two priests were Fray Alonso
de San Juan, who accompanied him from
Spain, and Fray Antonio de Ciudad Real,
who joined him in Mexico and was with him
in all his travels. Fr Ciudad Real un-
questionably wrote the account of their
travels in Yucatan, and he is one of the great
figures in the literary and ecclesiastical his-
tory of Yucatan, but his numerous works
have not been published. His great work
on the Mayan language was called " Calepino
de la Lengua Maya 6 Yucateca," on which
he was engaged for forty years. The work
of this priest is described by both Fr Bernardo
de Lizana, who knew him, and Fr Cogolludo.
According to Lizana he wrote, while acting as
general secretary of the Commissary Gen-
eral, a "Tratado curioso y docto de las
grandezas de la Nueva Espana." This may
well be the work, recently published, con-
taining the account of the ruins of Uxmal.

The report states that, "On Tuesday, the
thirteenth of October, the Father Commis-
sary left Calkini at two o'clock in the
morning, and leaving the road which leads

AND MONOGRAPHS

UXMAL

to Merida, he took [the road] for Mani and
Oxkutzcab, and traveling six leagues of good
road, arrived early at some ranchos or houses
of thatch, which the Indians of the district
of Mani with their keeper had made near
some ancient edifices, very renowned in that
land, which were called Uxmal." The de-
scription of the buildings of Uxmal con-
tained in this record of the travels of Ponce
is one of the few sixteenth-century accounts
of Mayan cities that have come down to us,
and it is by far the most important and
extensive. We reprint the translation pub-
lished by Spinden in his Study of Maya Art.

"Of the very renowned edifices of Uxmal.

"On the north of the ranchos where the
father delegate was lodged, as has been seen,
which is about twenty leagues from Merida,
to the south of that city, stands a ku or mul,
very tall and made by hand. It is very
difficult to ascend this by its one hundred and
fifty stone steps, which are very steep and
which, from their being very old, are very
dilapidated. On the top of this mul a large
building has been built, consisting of two
vaulted rooms, made of stone and lime, the
stones being carved with great care on the
outside. In old times they took the Indians
who were to be sacrificed to these rooms, and
there they killed them and offered them
to the idols. The father delegate went up

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

this mul as soon as he arrived there, and
this surprised the others greatly, since many
others did not dare to go up and could not
have done so if they had tried. Close to
this mul and behind it on the west, there are
lower down many other buildings built in the
same way with stone and lime and with
arches. The stones are carved with wonder-
ful delicacy, some of them having fallen and
others badly injured and ruined, while others
can still be seen, and there is much in them
worth examining. Among these there are
four very large and handsome buildings set
in a square form, and in the middle is a
square plaza, in which grew a thicket of
large and small trees, and even on top of the
building there were very large and dense
trees growing. The building which faces the
south, has on the outside four rooms, and on
the inside eight others, all arched with cut
stone, and as carefully joined and put to-
gether as if very skilful workers of the
present had built them. These arches, and
all the other old arches which have been
found in the province, are not rounded over
in the form of a cupola nor like those which
are made in Spain, but are tapered as the
funnels of chimneys are made when built in
the middle of a room, before the flue begins,
since both sides draw together little by little
and the space between becomes more narrow,

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UXMAI

till on the top one wall is separated from the
other by about two feet and there they place
a layer, which extends inwards four or five
inches on each side, and over this they place
flags or thin flat stones in a level position,
and with these the arch is closed, so that
there is no key to the arch, but with the
great weight of stone and mortar, which is
placed on top and which strengthens the
sides, the arch is closed and remains fixed
and strong. The ends of this arched build-
ing are continuous and straight from top to
bottom. At the door of each of the rooms
of this building on the inside, there are four
rings of stone, two on one side and two on the
other, — two of them being high up and two
lower down and all coming out of the same
wall. The Indians say that from these rings
those who lived in these buildings hung
curtains and portieres, and it was to be
noticed that no one of these rooms, nor of
all the others, which we found there, had
any window, small or large. The rooms
were therefore rather dark, especially when
they were made double, one behind the
other, so that even in this, this idolatrous
race gave evidence of the darkness and
obscurity of the error in which it was en-
shrouded. The high lintels of all these doors
were made of the wood of the chico zapote,
which is very strong and slow to decay, as

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

could well be seen, since most of them were
whole and sound, although they had been in
position from time immemorial, according to
the statements of the old Indians. The door
jambs were of stone carved with great deli-
cacy. On the facades of the building, both
on those which face the plaza or courtyard,
as well as on those which face outward, there
are many figures of serpents, idols and
shields, many screens or latticework, and
many other carvings which are very beauti-
ful and fine, especially if one look at them
from a distance like a painting of Flanders,
and they are all carved from the same kind
of stone. In the middle of this building a
great arch is made, so that it takes in all the
depth of the building, and therefore it is the
entrance to the courtyard or the above-
mentioned plaza. It would appear that this
entrance had been plastered and that on the
plaster paintings had been made in blue, red
and yellow color, since even now some of
them remain and can be seen. Nearly all
the rest of the stones had been plastered but
not painted.

"The building which stands at the west,
behind the previously mentioned mound of
sacrifices, was in the best condition and un-
injured. It had four doors which opened on
to the courtyard or plaza with as man>
rooms, arched in the same way as the others

AND MONOGRAPHS

UXMAL

and beyond each room was another, so that
there were eight in all. Between these four
doors, two on one side and two on the other,
there was still another door which opened
on the patio, and within this was a very large
hall, long and broad, with two small rooms
on the sides; and beyond this hall there was
another — a little smaller, with two other
small rooms — one on each side, so that inside
of this one door there were six rooms, four
small and two large, making, with the other
eight, fourteen rooms which this building
contained. On the inside facades and ends
of this building, there were carved many
serpents in stone, and heads of savages and
other figures in the manner of shields, and
at the four corners (since each building stood
by itself and not joined or connected with
the other) there were many other carvings
cut in the round like a half curve, with tips,
which looked like serpent heads, and which
stood at half a vara from the rest of the
carvings.

"The building on the north is the tallest,
and has more carvings and figures of idols,
serpents and shields and other very beautiful
things about it, but it is very much injured
and the most of it has fallen. It has ten doors
which open on the plaza and another which
opens on the eastern end, and inside each
one there are two rooms, and so among them

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

all there are twenty-two rooms in that build-
ing made of stone and lime, and arched like
the others, but the most of them, especially
those inside, have fallen. Before the ten
doors above mentioned there has been made
a terrace, paseo, or walking-place, somewhat
broad and open on all sides, to which one
ascends from the plaza by steps which are
now half in ruins. All this terrace has below
it other arched rooms with doors opening on
the same plaza, and these are covered and
stopped up with stones and earth and with
large trees which have grown there.

"The building on the west is very elegant
and beautiful on the outside fagade, which
looks on the plaza, since serpents made of
stone extend over the whole of it so as to
enclose it from end to end, making many
turns and knots, and they finally end with
the head of one of them, on one end of the
building, joined with the tail of the other,
and the same thing happens on the other
end of the building. There are also many
figures of men and idols, other figures of
monkeys, and of skulls and different kinds
of shields — all carved in stone. There are
also over the doors of the rooms some statues
of stone with maces or sticks in their hands,
as if they were mace-bearers, and there are
bodies of naked Indians with their masleles
(which are the old-fashioned loin-clothes of

AND MONOGRAPHS

UXMAL

all New Spain, like breeches), by which it is
shown that these buildings were built by
Indians. In this building are seven doors,
of which six open on the patio and the sev-
enth on the end which faces the north, and
inside of each door are two rooms, so that
there are fourteen rooms in all, arched like
the others.

"Besides these four buildings, there is on
the south of them distant from them about
an arquebus shot, another very large building
built on a mul or hill made by hand, with
abundance of buttresses on the corners,
made of massive carved stones. The ascent
of this mul is made with difficulty, since the
staircase by which the ascent is made is now
almost destroyed. The building, which is
raised on this mul, is of extraordinary
sumptuousness and grandeur, and, like the
others, very fine and beautiful. It has on
its front, which faces the east, many figures
and bodies of men and of shields and of
forms like the eagles which are found on the
arms of the Mexicans, as well as of certain
characters and letters which the Maya
Indians used in old times — all carved with
so great dexterity as surely to excite admira-
tion. The other facade, which faces the
west, showed the same carving, although
more than half the carved part had fallen.
The ends stood firm and whole with their

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

four corners much carved in the round, like
those of the other building below. There
are in this building fifteen doors, of which
eleven face the east, two the west and one
each face the north and south, and within
these doors there are twenty-four rooms
arched like the others. Two of these rooms
are in the northern end, and two others in
the southern end, while two are in the west
front, and all the rest in the eastern front —
all made with special accuracy and skill.

"The Indians do not know surely who
built these buildings nor when they were
built, though some of them did their best in
trying to explain the matter, but in doing so
showed foolish fancies and dreams, and
nothing fitted into the facts or was satis-
factory. The truth is that today the place
is called Uxmal, and an intelligent old
Indian declared to the father delegate that,
according to what the ancients had said, it
was known that it was more than nine hun-
dred years since the buildings were built.
Very beautiful and strong they must have
been in their time, and 'it is well known from
this that many people worked to build them,
as it is clear that the buildings were occupied,
and that all about them was a great popu-
lation, since this is now evident from the
ruins and remains of many other buildings,
which are seen from afar: but the father

AND MONOGRAPHS

UXMAL

delegate did not go to these ruins, since the
thicket was very close and dense, and there
was no opportunity to open and clear out a
path so as to reach them. And now they
all serve only as dwellings and nests for bats
and swallows and other birds, whose drop-
pings fill the rooms with an odor more
disgusting than delightful. There is no well
there, and the farmers of the vicinity carry
their drinking water from some little pools
of rain-water which there are in that region.
It may be easily suspected that these build-
ings were depopulated for want of water,
although others say that this is not so, but
that the inhabitants departed for another
country, leaving the wells which were there
choked up."

1595

Books of Chilam Balam.

In the Books of Chilam Balam, called by
Brinton "The Maya Chronicles," we find
mention of Uxmal. The first publication of
one of these ancient records, the Book of
Chilam Balam of Mani, is in Stephens'
Incidents of Travel in Yucatan (vol. II, app.),
the first edition of which was published in
New York in 1843. A copy of the manu-
script, with a translation into Spanish and
with notes, was furnished Stephens by the
learned Yucatecan antiquary Don Pio Perez.

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The Spanish translation of the original Maya
text was translated into English by Stephens,
and appears opposite the Maya text (pp.
465-469). According to Brinton, who has
published it in his Maya Chronicles (pp. 89-
135). from a copy made by Dr Carl Hermann
Berendt, with a new English translation,
the Book of Chilam Balam of Mani was un-
doubtedly composed not later than 1595,
as is proved by internal evidence (op. cit.
p. 70). This chronicle is often called the
Codex Perez. An independent translation
was made by Brasseur de Bourbourg and
published as an appendix to his edition of
the work of Landa in 1864. A study of this
manuscript was made by Dr Valentini in
his Katunes of Maya History, in Proceedings
of the American Antiquarian Society, 1880.

The reference to Uxmal is, " In the Katun
the second ahau Ahcuitok Tutulxiu founded
[the city of] Uxmal." (Brinton, Maya Chron-
icles, p. 102.)

In the Book of Chilam Balam of Tizimin
the data of the foundation of Uxmal is given
differently. Brinton's translation of the
Maya text is, "The tenth ahau; Ahzuitok
Tutulxiu founded Uxmal: ten score years
had passed when they established the terri-
tory of Uxmal." (Ibid., p. 146.)

In the Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel
it is stated that, "The twelfth ahau: the

AND MONOGRAPHS

UXMAL

stone of Otzmal was taken." (Brinton, op.
cit. , p. 1 7 1 .) This work has been reproduced
in facsimile, with an introduction by George
Byron Gordon, in Anthropological Publica-
tions of the University of Pennsylvania, vol. v,
Philadelphia, 19 13. The reference to Otz-
mal may, however, be Izamal instead of
Uxmal.

1639

Sanchez de Aguilar, Pedro. Informe

contra idolorum cultores del Obis-

pado de Yucatan. Madrid, 1639.

Segunda edicion, Mexico, 1892.

Sanchez de Aguilar speaks of "the great,
famous, and astounding edifices of stone and
mortar, and hewn stone, figures and statues
of carved stone left in Oxumal [Uxmal] and
Chichiniza, which may be seen today, and
[the buildings] may be lived in." He further
states that the Yucatecans had been vassals
of the Mexicans for six hundred years before
the coming of the Spaniards (Segunda
edicion, p. 94). Pedro Sanchez de Aguilar
was a descendant of the conquistadores
Hernan Sanchez de Castilla and Hernan de
Aguilar, and was born in the peninsula of
Yucatan in 1555. His work on the idolatries
of the Indians was commenced in 16 13 and
completed in 16 15.

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1673

[Title Deeds. (MS.)]

Stephens states that he saw the title
deeds, dated 1673, of the estate of Uxmal,
at that time the property of Don Simon
Peon. He writes:

"They were truly a formidable pile, com-
pared with which the papers in a protracted
chancery or ejectment suit would seem a
billet-doux, and, unfortunately, a great por-
tion of them was in the Maya language;
but there was one folio volume in Spanish,
and in this was the first formal conveyance
ever made of these lands by the Spanish
government. It bears date the twelfth day
of May, 1673, and is entitled a testimonial
of royal favor made to the Regidor Don
Lorenzo de Evia, of four leagues of land
{desde los edificios de Uxmal) from the
buildings of Uxmal to the south, one to the
east, another to the west, and another to
the north, for his distinguished merits and
services therein expressed. The preamble
sets forth that the Regidor Don Lorenzo de
Evia, by a writing that he presented to his
majesty, made a narrative showing that at
sixteen leagues from Merida, and three from
the sierra of Ticul, were certain meadows
and places named Uxmalchecaxek, Tzem-
chan - Cemin - Curea - Kusultzac, Exmuue-

AND MONOGRAPHS

UXMAL

Hixmon-nec, uncultivated and belonging to
the crown, which the Indians could not
profit by for tillage and sowing, and which
could only serve for horned cattle; that the
said regidor had a wife and children whom
it was necessary for him to maintain for the
service of the king in a manner conforming to
his office, and that he wished to stock the
said places and meadows with horned cattle,
and praying a grant of them for that purpos?
in the name of his majesty, since no injury
could result to any third person, but, 'on the
contrary, very great service to God our Lord,
because with that establishment it would
prevent the Indians in those places from
worshipping the devil in the ancient buildings
which are there, having in them their idols, to
which they burn copal, and performing other
detestable sacrifices, as they are doing every
day notoriously and publicly.'" — Stephens,
Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, vol. I, pp.
322-323.

1687-1688

[Claims to Land. (MS.)]

Stephens also was shown other later docu-
ments which he describes as follows:

"Following this is a later instrument,
dated the third of December, 1687, the pre-
amble of which recites the petition of Cap-
tain Lorenzo de Evia, setting forth the grant
above referred to, and that an Indian named

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Juan Can had importuned him with a claim
of right to the said lands on account of his
being a descendant of the ancient Indians, to
whom they belonged; that the Indian had
exhibited some confused papers and maps,
and that, although it was not possible for
him to justify the rights that he claimed, to
avoid litigation, he, the said Don Lorenzo de
Evia, agreed to give him seventy-four dollars
for the price and value of the said land.
The petition introduces the deed of consent,
or quit-claim, of Juan Can, executed with
all the formalities required in the case of
Indians (the original of which appears
among the other title papers), and prays a
confirmation of his former grant, and to be
put in real and corporeal possession. The
instrument confirms the former grant, and
prescribes the formal mode of obtaining
possession.

"Under the deed of confirmation appears
the deed of livery of seisin, beginning, 'In
the place called the edifices of Uxmal and
its lands, the third day of the month of
January, 1688,' etc., and concluding with
the words: 'In virtue of the power and
authority which by the same title is given to
me by the said governor, complying with its
terms, I took by the hand the said Lorenzo
de Evia, and he walked with me all over
Uxmal and its buildings, opened and shut

AND MONOGRAPHS

UXMAL

some doors that had several rooms, cut
within the space some trees, picked up fallen
stones and threw them down, drew some
water from one of the aguadas of the said
place of Uxmal, and performed other acts
of possession.'" — Stephens, Incidents of
Travel in Yucatan, vol. I, pp. 323-324.

1688

Cogolludo, Fr. Diego Lopez de. His-
toria de Yucathan. Sacala a luz
Franciso de Ayeta. Madrid, 1688.

Second edition, under the title:
Los tres siglos de la dominacion
Espanola en Yucatan, tomo 1, Cam-
peche, 1842; tomo II, Merida, 1845.

Third edition, under the title:

Historia de Yucatan escrita en el

siglo XVII por el R. P. Fr. Diego

Lopez Cogolludo, tomo 1, Merida,

1867; tomo 11, Merida, 1868.

Uxmal is mentioned in the third edition
in tomo 1, libro 4, cap. ii, pp. 284-285; also
in cap. vii, pp. 31 1-3 12. The first men-
tioned notice of Uxmal contained in Cogo-
lludo is:

"In Uxmal there is a large patio with
many rooms separated in the form - of a

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

cloister, where these virgins lived. It is a
work worthy of admiration, because the
exterior of the walls is all of worked stones,
where there are brought out figures of armed
men in bas-relief, a diversity of animals,
birds, and other things, and it has not been
made out who were the artificers, nor how
they were worked in this land. All of the
four fronts of the buildings of that patio (that
might be called a plaza) are encircled by a
snake worked in the same stone as the walls,
the tail terminating under the head, and
being in all its circuit four hundred feet
[long].

"At the southern part of this edifice there
is another which it is said were the dwelling
of the lord of the land: it is not in the form
of a cloister, but is made of the stone worked
with the figures mentioned in the other, and
there are many smaller [houses] near there,
which they say were houses of the captains
and principal lords. In the one on the south
side there is a wall in the interior of the
building which, although it is very extensive,
a little over half a man's stature in height,
has on its full length a cornice of very
smooth stone which makes a very fine
corner, even and very perfect, where I
remember there was made of the same stone
and remained in it [the wall] a ring as thin
and handsome as can be made of gold worked

AND MONOGRAPHS

UXMAL

in the most beautiful manner: absolute
proof that they were made by perfect artists.
Who they were we do not know, nor have
the Indians any tradition of them."

The second mention of Uxmal by Cogo-
lludo is:

"They have many sumptuous temples in
many parts of this Tierra Firme, of which
there remain today parts of their edifices,
like which are in Vxmal or Vxumual, in
Chichen Ytza, .... They raised from
the ground a terrace (or mound) , the founda-
tion of the edifice, which is of pyramidal
form, on which there rise steps, although they
do not terminate with this [pyramid], for on
the top there is a small square on which there
are situated, separated a short distance, two
small chapels in which are the idols; this is
the case in that of Vxumual, and there they
make their sacrifices of men as well as of
women and children, and of the other
things. Some of these [temples] have a
height of more than one hundred steps, of a
little more than half a foot wide, each one.
I ascended one time the one of Vxumual, and
when I had to descend, I repented because,
as the steps are so narrow and so many in
number, and as the edifice rises almost
straight up, and since the height is not slight
going down, one gets dizzy and it is some-
what dangerous. I found there in one of

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

two chapels, offerings of cacao, and marks of
copal, which is their incense, burned there
but a short time before, an evidence of some
superstition or idolatry recently committed,
although we could not find out anything
about it among all of us who were there.
God help those poor Indians, for the devil
deceives them very easily."

l822

Cabrera, Dr Paul Felix. Description
of the ruins of an ancient city, dis-
covered near Palenque, in the King-
dom of Guatemala in Spanish Amer-
ica: translated from the original
manuscript report of Captain Don
Antonio Del Rio. Followed by:
Teatro Critico Americano, a critical
investigation and research into the
history of the Americans by Doctor
Felix Cabrera of the city of Guate-
mala. London.

In the report of Antonio Del Rio (pp. 6-7)
he states that he received an account of
Yucatan from Rev. Father Thomas de Soza,
a Franciscan friar of the convent at Merida,
and the following notice regarding Uxmal
appears :

AND MONOGRAPHS

UXMAL

"At the distance of twenty leagues from
the city of Merida southward, between the
curacy called Mona y Ticul and the town of
Nocacab, are the remains of some stone
edifices: one very large building has with-
stood the ravages of time, and still exists in
good preservation: the natives give it the
name of Oxmutal. It stands on an emi-
nence of twenty yards in height, and mea-
sures two hundred yards on each facade.
The apartments, the exterior corridor, the
pillars with figures in medio relievo, and
decorated with serpents, lizards, etc., formed
in stucco, beside which are statues of men
with palms in their hands in the act of beat-
ing drums and dancing, resemble in every
respect those observable at Palenque."

This is the earliest modern printed notice
regarding Uxmal which we have found. The
report is dated Palenque, June 24, 1787.

1825

Warden, David B. Description des

ruines decouvertes pres de Palenque.

Recueil de Voyages et Memoires

publies par la Societe de Geographie,

Paris, tome II.

The greater part of this article was ab-
stracted from the work of Cabrera. The
Soza notice of Uxmal is on pp. 176-177.

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1825

Buchon, J. A. Atlas geographique,
statistique, historique et chronolo-
gique des deux Ameriques et les iles
adjacentes; traduit de l'atlas exe-
cute en Amerique d'apres Lesage.
Paris. (Folio.)

1834

Zavala, Lorenzo de. Notice sur les
monuments antiques d'Ushmal, dans
la province de Yucatan, fournie par
M. Lorenzo de Zavala, Ambassadeur
du Mexique en France. In Anti-
quites Mexicaines, relation des trots
expeditions du Capitaine Dupaix,
etc., Paris, Premiere partie, Notes
et documents divers, tome 1, no. VI,
PP- 33-35- (Folio.)

1838

Waldeck, Frederick. Voyage pittor-
esque et archeologique dans la prov-
ince d' Yucatan (Amerique Centrale),
pendant les annees 1834 et 1836.
Paris. (Folio.)

AND MONOGRAPHS

UXMAL

Uxmal, or "Itzalane," is treated on pp.
67-74. A plan of the ruins is given in pi.
viii, and views and plans of some of the
temples are in pi. ix-xvii. In pi. xvii are
three stone heads from the ruins. Descrip-
tions of these plates are on pp. 93-104.
Waldeck was at Uxmal in 1835. His illus-
trations are beautifully drawn, but are not
very accurate, notwithstanding the assertion
by Bancroft (Native Races, vol. iv, Antiqui-
ties, note 2, p. 145) that they "are remark-
able for their accuracy."

1841

Friedrichstal, Emmanuel de. Les
monuments de l'Yucatan. Nouvelles
Annates des Voyages, Paris, tome
quatrieme, annee 1841, tome 92,
pp. 291-314.

This article is a digest of the researches of
Friedrichstal, written by Eyries. Uxmal is
described on pp. 306-312. In tomo 11 of
Registro Yucateco, published in Merida in
1845, there is a brief mention of Uxmal in a
letter written to D. Justo Sierra in Merida,
treating of his travels in Yucatan. It was
published also in the second and third
editions of Cogolludo, and bears the date
1841.

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Stephens, John Lloyd. Incidents of

travel in Central America, Chiapas,

and Yucatan. New York. 2 vols.

The account of Uxmal appears in vol. 11,

pp. 410-435. 3 pl-

This work was the first to place before the
general reader, in a fascinating book of
travels, the wonderful ruined cities of Cen-
tral America, with splendid drawings of a
number of the ruined buildings and sculp-
tures. Stephens, accompanied by Frederick
Catherwood, an English artist, left New York
in October, 1839, for Central America.
Catherwood writes that the "only object of
our journey [was] an exploration of the
ruined cities of Central America, the appoint-
ment of Mr Stephens as Special Confidential
Agent from the United States, having taken
place but a very short time previous to our
leaving, and after all our arrangements were
completed." On this trip the explorers went
first to Guatemala, visiting Copan, which
at that time was in Guatemala territory;
thence into Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa
Rica, following the Pacific coast. Returning
to Guatemala they went overland into south-
ern Mexico, visiting the ruins of Ococingo
and Palenque. Coming out by way of the
Gulf of Mexico, they spent a few days in
Yucatan the latter part of June, 1841. At

AND MONOGRAPHS

UXMAL

this time it was their intention to explore
Uxmal, but they were able to spend only a
couple of days at the ruins, owing to the
violent attack of fever which Catherwood
suffered, so that they were obliged to leave
the ruins and set sail immediately for the
United States. They left Yucatan on June
24, in a sailing vessel, arriving in New York
on July 31.

1843

Stephens, John Lloyd. Incidents of
travel in Yucatan. New York. 2 vols.

Uxmal is described in vol. 11, pp. 147-187,
293-328; 11 pi., 9 figs.

This is the most extended and important
account of the ruins of Uxmal, and contains
historical material which we reprint under
the years 1556, 1557, 1673, and 1687-1688.

Stephens and Catherwood left New York
in October, 1841, and remained in Yucatan
until June, 1842. They went to Uxmal on
November 15, and Catherwood remained at
the ruins until January 1, 1842, Stephens
meanwhile making several visits from the
site to other ruins. On his first visit to
Uxmal the year before, Stephens was pre-
sented by the owner of Uxmal with a sculp-
ture from the House of the Governor, a
death's-head with long feathers. On the
second trip to Yucatan he made a consider-

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

able collection of antiquities from various
ruins, among them being several sculptured
lintels, notably from the House of the
Governor, described in Incidents of Travel
in Central America, vol. n, pp. 432-433, and
Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, vol. 1, pp.
178-179. This beam, with the other lintels,
"as also the whole collection of vases,
figures, idols, and other relics gathered upon
this journey," were destroyed in a fire in
New York, where they were being exhibited
in a panorama of Thebes and Carthage,
painted by Catherwood. The Uxmal stone
sculpture above mentioned was fortunately
not in this exhibition, as Stephens writes
that a collection of large sculptured stones
had not been received at that time. These
sculptures, as well as the death's-head, were
presented by Stephens to Mr John A. Cruger,
who built a small roofless stone building on a
point of Cruger island in Hudson river. In
the walls of this structure the sculptures,
sixteen in number, were embedded. The two
largest and most important were splendid
slabs from the ruins of Kabah; the majority,
however, were from Uxmal. They remained
at this place, unknown to archeologists, for
many years, when finally they were acquired
by the American Museum of Natural His-
tory in 19 19, and are now among the collec-
tions of that institution.

AND MONOGRAPHS

UXMAL

In 1895 Mrs Richard P. Dana gave to the
same Museum a massive, much defaced stone
death's-head from Uxmal, which was pre-
sented by Stephens to her brother-in-law,
who was a fellow-passenger on the sailing
vessel which brought the party from Yuca-
tan. It formerly had a nose, but it was
broken off on the voyage, the sculpture hav-
ing been carelessly stored on the deck.

When the Le Plongeons were exploring
Uxmal in the seventies, Dr Le Plongeon cut
from the central facade of the House of the
Governor a small, excellently carved, human
head, which was a part of the central design
of the front of the building. This he sold
to the American Museum of Natural His-
tory, where it is now exhibited. Several
years ago some natives discovered in a room
formed by one of the two set-in arches of the
western side of the House of the Governor,
two magnificent painted stucco human heads,
described by Gann (19 18), which are now in
the Museum of the American Indian, Heye
Foundation. (See herein under 191 8.)

The great interest aroused by the publica-
tion of Stephens' two works is shown by the
number of editions in which the volumes were
printed. Of the first work, Incidents of
Travel in Central America, twelve editions
were printed within a year, and with a slight
change in the imprint only, it was issued in

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

New York in 1841, 1842, 1845, 1846, 1848,
1851, 1852, 1855, 1858, i860, 1863, and 1867,
all of which reprints are titled "Twelfth
edition." There are also London editions
of 1841, 1842, 1843, 1844.

The work on Yucatan was also reprinted,
with slight variations in imprint, in New
York in 1847, 1848, 1855, 1856, 1858, i860,
and 1868. There is also a London edition,
published by John Murray in 1843.

Norman, B. M. Rambles in Yucatan,
or notes of travel through the penin-
sula, including a visit to the remark-
able ruins of Chi-Chen, Kabah,
Zayi, Uzmal, &c. New York.

Norman went to Yucatan in December,
1 84 1, and was at Uxmal from February 25 to
March 4, according to his own account. He
apparently "trailed" Stephens and Cather-
wood, taking advantage of their clearing
around the ruins. He writes of Uxmal on
pp. 154-167, 199. There are a plan of the
ruins, five plates showing the edifices, and
five text figures. The popular interest
aroused at this time in the subject of the
ruined cities of Yucatan is indicated by the
fact that Norman's work appeared in seven
editions within a few years following the
original publication.

AND MONOGRAPHS

96 UXMAL

1844

Catherwood, Frederick. Views of
ancient monuments in Central Amer-
ica and Yucatan by F. Catherwood,
Arch*. London. Also New York.
(Folio.)

In the Introduction some ot the buildings
of Uxmal are briefly described on pp. 7-8,
and the rapid growth of vegetation is com-
mented on. PI. 8-15 illustrate some of the
edifices, but these are not the same illus-
trations as those published by Stephens,
with the exception of pi. 14, the northern
end of the western range of the "Monjas"
group, which reproduces Stephens' plate
opposite p. 302, the only difference being that
the drawing published by Catherwood is
more highly finished and detailed.

An original painting by Catherwood has
been long in possession of the American Geo-
graphical Society of New York. It has now
1 been lent to the Museum of the American
Indian, Heye Foundation, and is exhibited
in the hall devoted to Mexican and Central
American antiquities. This painting repre-
sents the western section of the northern
range of the "Monjas" group, and until
now has remained unpublished. It measures
3 ft. 5 in. long and 1 ft. 9 in. high. We re-

IX INDIAN NOTES

. BIBLIOGRAPHY

NORTHERN BUILDING OF THE " MONJAS " GROUP, UXMAL
From on unpublished painting by Frederick Catherwood in 1841

^i'Mt^^^m

w^' '::r:

' T -1 ■%-:. :^;, ' '

^- 4Kf*:«i

■■ 1

'•■\ i

NORTHERN BUILDING OF THE " MONJAS " GROUP, UXMAL
,„nh ms>j„ in I 888 by Henry M. Sweet for the Peabody Museum, Harvard Un

GENERAL VIEW OF THE NORTHERN PART OF THE "MONJAS" GROUP, UXMAL
From a photograph made in I 888 by Henry M Sweet for the Peabody Museum, Harvard University

OF THE NORTHERN PART OF THE "MONJAS" GROUP,
m a photograph made in I 9 I 9 by George Oakley Totten, Jr.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

produce it in pi. i. In Catherwood's Views,
pi. 15 shows a section of this painting with
slight variations in the composition of the
group of people in the foreground. It shows
only two of the doorways, whereas the one
we now reproduce gives the entire western
half of the building. Our pi. 11 presents this
building from a photograph made by Henry
M. Sweet in 1888 for the Peabody Museum,
Harvard University; it is the same section
given by Catherwood. PI. in, a photograph
also made by Mr Sweet, is a view of the
entire structure, showing also the front of the
western and the back of the eastern buildings
of the "Monjas" group. It was taken from
the pyramid of the House of the Dwarfs, or,
as it is also called, Casa del Adivino. PI. iv
is the same view reproduced from a photo-
graph made in 19 19 by Maj. George Oakley
Totten, Jr. It exhibits the present condi-
tion of the building, cleared of vegetation
by the Mexican Inspector of Monuments.
Changes will be noted in the two photo-
graphs in the ruined building in the middle
foreground of pi. in and the lower right-hand
corner of pi. iv, a section of the middle end
having fallen during the last thirty-one years.

Muhlenpfordt, Eduard. Versuch ein-
er getruen Schilderung de Republik
Mejico. Hannover. 2 vols.
A mere mention of Uxmal appears in

AND MONOGRAPHS

UXMAL

Zweiter Band, p. 12, which gives the name
as Uchmal. Miihlenpfordt spent seven
years in Mexico, but evidently did not visit
Yucatan.

1845
L.G. Una visita a las ruinas de Uxmal.
Registro Yucateco, Merida, tomo 1,

PP- 275-279-
M.F.P. Una incursion al interior. Reg-
istro Yucateco, Merida, tomo I, pp.
361-370.
Describes a visit to Uxmal.

Un Curioso (pseudonym). Dos dias en
Nophat. Registro Yucateco, Merida,
tomo 11, pp. 261-272.

This article is dated May 25, 1845, and is
largely a dialogue relating to the traditional
history of Uxmal. We quote Bancroft's
paraphrase of it in another place (pp. 59—60).

1848-1850

Stephens, John Lloyd. Viaje a Yuca-
tan a fines de 1841 y principios de
1842. Consideraciones sobre los
usos, costumbres y vida social de

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

este pueblo, y examen y descripcion
de las vastas ruinas y ciudades
Americanas que en el existen. Obra
que, con el titulo de ''Incidents of
Travel in Yucatan" escribio en ingles
Mr, John L. Stephens, y la traduce
al castellano, con algunas notas
ocasionales, D. Justo Sierra. Tomo
T> 373 + xxrv PP-» Campeche, 1848;
tomo 11, 409 pp., Campeche, 1850.

In this Mexican edition no maps, plans,
or pictures are given, but it is of importance
for the annotations made by the translator,
Don Justo Sierra, father of the late Minister
of Public Instruction in Mexico, of the same
name.

1853

Heller, Carl. Reisen in Mexiko in

den Jahren 1845-1848. Leipzig.

For Uxmal, see 2d Abschnitt, chap, xvn,
pp. 255-268. Heller spent three days in
Uxmal in April 1847.

Stephens, John Lloyd. Begebenheiten
auf einer Reise in Yucatan. Deutsch
von Dr. N. N. W. Meissner. 116
Abbildungen, 10 Planen, und einer

AND MONOGRAPHS

100

UXMAL

Karte von Yucatan. Leipzig, xviii,
438 pp. 8°.

A German translation of Incidents of
Travel in Yucatan.

1854

Stephens, John Lloyd. Reiseerleb-
nisse in Centralamerika, Chiapas
und Yucatan. Nach der zwolften
Auflage ins Deutsche Ubertragen von
Eduard Hoepfner. Mit einer Karte,
Planen und zahlreichen Illustra-
tionen. Leipzig, xiv, 554 pp., ill. 8°.

A German translation of Incidents of
Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and
Yucatan.

Stephens, John Lloyd, and Cather-
wood, Frederick. Incidents of
travel in Central America, Chiapas,
and Yucatan. By the late John
Lloyd Stephens. Revised from the
latest American edition, with addi-
tions, by Frederick Catherwood.
London. (1 vol.)
The account of Uxmal is chapter xli, pp.

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

101

515-526, 3 ill. The only revision made by
Catherwood is the omission of the para-
graph at the bottom of page 433 and the top
of page 434. This referred to a "sculptured
ornament . . . introduced in one of the
compartments of the plan" (plate opposite
p. 429 of the original edition, and p. 522 of
the revised edition). This sculpture had
been removed by the owner of the estate,
Don Simon Peon, who had "the intention
of setting it up as an ornament on the front
of his hacienda." Don Simon presented the
sculpture to Stephens, and with a number of
other pieces, notably the two great slabs
from Kabah, it was sent to New York. (See
note under Stephens, 1843.) The plates in
this edition of Catherwood are from revised
drawings, and in place of the plate given by
Stephens opposite p. 434, showing a section
of the northeast corner of the House of the
Governor with a single doorway, Cather-
wood gives (p. 526) a larger section of the
same building with two doorways and a
portion of one of the arches, with the terraced
platform upon which the building stands.

1858

Brasseur de Bourbourg, Abbe. His-
toire des nations civilisees du Mex-

AND MONOGRAPHS

102

UXMAL

ique et
Paris.

de rAm6rique-Centrale.

In tome second, chap, quatrieme, pp. 578-
591, Brasseur de Bourbourg gives an ex-
tended account of the traditional history of
Uxmal, taken, as he writes, from the article
Dos Dias en Nophat (see entry under 1845)
and from data furnished him by Sr Casares,
"a well-informed Yucatecan, and former
Deputy from his land to Mexico."

Charnay,

Yucatan,
tome v.

i860

Desire.

Tour

Un voyage au
du Monde, Paris,

On p. 344 is a view of the north range of
the group'of the Monjas, and, on p. 352, an
illustration of the east range of the same
group.

1863

Charnay, Desire. Cites et ruines
Americaines Mitla, Palenque, Iz-
amal, Chichen-Itza, Uxmal . Re-
cueillies et photographiees par Desire
Charnay avec une texte par M.

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

103

Viollet-le-Duc.
of plates.)

Paris. (With atlas

The ruins of Uxmal are treated from an
architectural point of view by Viollet-le-Duc,
under the title "Antiquites Americaines,"
from a study of the photographs and notes
made by Charnay, on pp. 61, 72, figs. 8-10.
Charnay describes the ruins in the section
"Le Mexique, 1858-1861, Souvenir et Im-
pressions de Voyage," chap, xi, pp. 351-382.

The atlas is an oblong folio of 7 pp. and
49 pi. PL 35-49 are of Uxmal. PI. 35 is a
view of the front of the pyramid of the
"House of the Dwarf," also called the
"House of the Diviner." PI. 36 shows the
northern range of the "Monjas group," the
view shown in our reproduction of Cather-
wood's drawing. PI. 37-44 are other views
of the four buildings of this group. PI. 45-47
present views of the "House of the Gover-
nor," 45 being a double folding plate. PI. 48
is the "House of the Turtles," and 49 is a
general view of the ruins looking south from
the courtyard of the "Monjas group." The
copy in the New York Public Library bears
the date 1862. A copy is described in the
catalogue of the Squier Library under the
title ' ' Le Mexique et les Monuments
Anciens,' 20 photographs. Paris, 1864."

AND MONOGRAPHS

104 UXMAL

1865

Ramirez, Jose Fernando. Viaje a
Yucatan y descripcion de sus ruinas.
(MS.) Title cited in Biblioteca
Historico- Americana, Mexico, 1898,
p. xliii. (See 1887, Chavero.)

Ramirez, Jose Fernando. Extractos y

noticias de manuscritos relacionados

con la historia de Mexico. Tomo ill.

Contains a copy of the solicitation of
Lorenzo de Evia, dated 1663 and 1667.
Evidently the documents (1687-88) copied
by Stephens and presented by him in Eng-
lish.

1866

Viollet-le-Duc, M. Ciudades y ruinas
Americanas, Mitla, Palenque, Iz-
amal, Chichen-Itza, Uxmal. Mex-
ico.

A translation by Jose Guzman of Anti-
quites Americaines (1863). Uxmal is de-
scribed on pp. 38-45.

1867

Brasseur de Bourbourg, Abbe. Ex-
tract from a letter written in Mexico,

IX INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

105

Jan. 27, 1865. Archives de la Com-
mission scientifique du Mexique.
Paris, tome 1, pp. 457-460.

In this letter Brasseur de Bourbourg
writes of his visit to the ruins of Izamal and
Uxmal, stating that he spent ten days at
Uxmal with M. Bourgeois, apparently in
December, 1864.

Brasseur de Bourbourg, Abbe. Essai
historique sur le Yucatan et de-
scription des ruines de Ti-Hoo (Mer-
ida) et d' Izamal. Archives de la
Commission scientifique du Mexique,
Paris, tome II, pp. 18-64.

This report, dated Mexico, Feb. 24, 1865,
contains numerous references to Uxmal.
On p. 39 Brasseur de Bourbourg illustrates a
small stone sculpture representing a human
head, obtained by him in Uxmal.

Brasseur de Bourbourg, Abbe. Rap-
port sur les ruines de Mayapan et
Uxmal au Yucatan (Mexique). Ar-
chives de la Commission scientifique
du Mexique, Paris, tome 11, pp. 234-
288.

AND MONOGRAPHS

106

UXMAL

This includes an important report on
Uxmal (pp. 249-288), with a folded plan of
the ruins and four text illustrations. The
author paid considerable attention to the
ancient water-supply and to the outlying
ruined structures.

1877

Salisbury, Stephen. The Mayas. The
sources of their history. Proceed-
ings of the American Antiquarian
Society of April 26, 1876, and April
25, T^77i Worcester, Mass., pp. 18-
21.

The author spent the winter of 1861 in
Yucatan, and his description refers to a
visit to the ruins of Uxmal at that time,
"in company with a party of sixteen gentle-
men from Merida, of whom two only had
seen them before."

1879

Varigny, C. V. C. DE.
Uxmal. Madrid.

Title from Haebler.
1 891.)

1880

Rice, Allen Thorndike.
of Central America.

Las ruinas de

(See item under

Ruined cities
North Ameri-

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

107

can Review, New York, vol. cclxxxv,

August, pp. 89-108.

An introduction by the editor of The
North American Review to a series of articles
by Desire Charnay describing his explora-
tions among the ruined cities of Mexico and
Central America during the years 1880-
1882. This expedition was under the
auspices of the French Government and of
Mr Pierre Lorillard, who defrayed the
greater part of the expenses. Several of the
buildings of Uxmal are described by Rice
on pp. 100-103. ln the eleven articles which
follow, Charnay does not describe his ex-
plorations at Uxmal, except to state, in
article x, that he "sent a party to Uxmal,
under the direction of Mr Ayme [the United
States Consul], to make casts of the in-
scriptions in the Governor's Palace" (p. 411).
Numerous reports of this expedition were
published in different places and in various
languages. The definitive account will be
found in the French and English narratives
published in 1885 and 1887.

Morgan, Lewis Henry. A study of the
houses of the American aborigines;
with suggestions for the examination
of the ruins in New Mexico, Arizona,
the valley of the San Juan, and in

AND MONOGRAPHS

108

UXMAL

Yucatan and Central America.

Archceological Institute of America,
First Annual Report of the Executive
Committee, 187Q-1880. Cambridge.

The above study occupies pp. 27-80. In
it Mr Morgan attempts to show, based
chiefly on the grouping of the ruins of Uxmal,
that the ruined cities of Yucatan and
Central America are to be classed as com-
munal structures, "joint-tenement houses
of the aboriginal American type." Uxmal
ruins are treated on pp. 59-67, 77-78, figs.
18-22.

l88l

Morgan, Lewis Henry. Houses and
house-life of the American aborigines.
Contributions to North American Eth-
nology, vol. IV, Washington.

This is an extended study, of which the
entry under 1880 is simply a specially pre-
pared article. Chapter ix, pp. 251-276,
covers the "Ruins of houses of the sedentary
Indians of Yucatan and Central America."
The same arguments are adduced to prove
the communal character of the Yucatan
buildings. Uxmal is treated on pp. 256,
259-266, 275-276, figs. 50-54-

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

109

Bancroft, Hubert Howe. The works
of Hubert Howe Bancroft. Vol. IV,
The Native Races: vol. iv, Antiqui-
ties. San Francisco.

A resume (pp. 149-200) describing the
ruins based on the works of various ex-
plorers, with many illustrations. Valuable
for its bibliographic notes.

Bancroft, Hubert Howe. Ibid. Vol.
V, The Native Races: vol. v, Primi-
tive History.

In chap, xiii, on the History of the Mayas
in Yucatan, pp. 629-633, the traditional
history of the reign of the Tutul Xiu family
in Uxmal is discussed.

Catalogo de la Exposicion Ameri-
canista. Madrid. Seccion primera,
numeros 230-231.

Contains a notice of sculptures from the
Casa del Gobernador and the Monjas group,
taken from the ruins, now in the Museo
Arqueologico de Madrid. Mentioned by
Troncoso (1893), p. 41.

AND MONOGRAPHS

-. —

110

UXMAL

1884

Charnay, Desire. Voyage au Yucatan
et au pays des Lacandons. Tour du
Monde, Paris, tomes xlvij -xlviii.

A series of articles in 23 chapters. Uxmal
is described in chap, xiv, pp. 59-64, with
5 iU.

Charnay, Desire. Viaje al Yucatan y
al pais de los Lacandones. America
Pintoresco, Barcelona, pp. 341-476.

This is a translation of the narrative pub-
lished in Tour du Monde. Uxmal is de-
scribed on pp. 416-422, 4 ill. A picture of
the hacienda of Uxmal appearing in the
French version is omitted.

Ober, Frederick A. Travels in Mex-
ico, and life among the Mexicans.
Boston.

Chap, in, Uxmal, pp. 56-81, 5 ill. The
plate opposite p. 72, with the caption
"Uxmal," should be Chichen Itza. Ober
visited Uxmal in March 1881.

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

111

1885

Le Plongeon, Alice D. The old and
the new in Yucatan. Harper's
Monthly, New York, Feb., pp. 372-
386.

An interesting account of Uxmal on pp.
376-381, with three views of the buildings.

Charnay, Desire. Les anciennes villes
du nouveau monde voyages d'explor-
ations au Mexique et dans l'Amer-
ique Centrale par Desire Charnay
1857-1882. Paris.

Chap. 20, Uxmal, pp. 33i~349> 9 ill-

1887

Charnay, Desire. The ancient cities
of the New World being voyages
and explorations in Mexico and
Central America from 1857-1882.
Translated from the French by J.
Gonino and Helen S. Conant. New
York.

Uxmal, pp. 390-413, 9 ill.

AND MONOGRAPHS

112

UXMAL

Chavero, Alfredo. Mexico a traves

de los siglos. Tomo I, Primera

epoca. Historia antigua. Mexico.
Barcelona.

For Uxmal, see cap. VI, pp. 424~433 5
cap. vii, pp. 436-456; 65 ill.

In prefacing the account of Uxmal,
Chavero writes: "Generally in describing
these prodigious ruins historians copy the
magnificent description of Stephens; we
more fortunately substitute the unpublished
account of Don Jose Fernando Ramirez . . .
the result of a visit made by him to Uxmal
in 1865." The Ramirez report referred to by
Chavero is still unpublished, except for the
extracts relating to Uxmal. It is entitled
" Viaje a Yucatan y descripcion de sus ruinas
arqueologicas." See Biblioteca Historica-
Americana Septentrional, Mexico, 1898, p.
xliii. The Ramirez account published by
Chavero contains detailed descriptions of the
House of the Governor, pp. 424-429; House
of the Turtles, pp. 436-438; Group of the
Monjas, or Nunnery, pp. 442-452; House
of the Doves, pp. 452-454- See 1865,
Ramirez.

1888

Ober, Frederick A. Ancient cities of
America. Bulletin of the American

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

113

Geographical Society, New York, vol.
xx, no. i.

Uxmal is described on pp. 62-65.
1889

Banks, David Saltonstall. A New

Yorker in Yucatan. Frank Leslie' s
Popular Magazine, New York, vol.
xxvii, no. 5.

Mr Banks gives an interesting description
of the principal buildings at Uxmal, with an
illustration of the House of the Dwarfs, on
PP- 547-550.

1891

Varigny, C. V. C. de. Les mines
d' Uxmal. U Illustration, Supple-
ment au no. 2928, Paris, 8 avril,
pp. 1-41, ill.

A modern story with the scene laid in
Uxmal. Haebler gives the title, Las Ruinas
de Uxmal, Madrid, 1879.

1892

Saville, Marshall H. Vandalism
among the antiquities of Yucatan

AND MONOGRAPHS

114

UXMAL

and Central America. Proceedings
of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science, Rochester,
vol. xli, p. 276; Science, New York,
vol. xx, p. 365.

Calls attention to the painting of names on
the buildings, and the breaking of sculptures
with machetes. The writer spent several
weeks at Uxmal during the winter of 1891 in
the excavation of a mound at the rear of
the hacienda building. Several tombs were
discovered under the floors of the rooms.

1893

Paso y Troncoso Francisco del.
Catalogo de la Seccion de Mexico,
Exposicion Historico-Americana de
Madrid. Madr d.

Tomo 11, pp. 40-51, contains a detailed
description of a number of enlarged photo-
graphs of the ruins of Uxmal, exhibited at
■ the Exposicion Historico-Americana held in
Madrid in 1892 in honor of the four-hun-
dredth centenary of the discovery of America.

1894

Brine, Lindsay. Travels amongst the
American Indians, their ancient

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

115

earthworks and temples, including a
journey in Guatemala, Mexico and
Yucatan, and a visit to the ruins of
Patinamit, Pa enque and Uxmal.
London.

Vice-Admiral Brine visited Uxmal in
January, 1870. For his descriptions, see
pp. xv-xvi, 330-359. 10 ill.

1895

Haebler, Karl. Die Maya-Litteratur
und der Maya-Apparat zu Dresden.

Centralblatt fur Bibliothekswesen,
Leipzig, XII Jahrgang, 12 Heft, pp.
537-575.
For Uxmal, see p. 554.

Baker, Frank Collins. A naturalist
in Mexico; being a visit to Cuba,
northern Yucatan and Mexico. Chi-
cago.

Holmes, William H. Archaeological
studies among the ancient cities of
Mex co. Part I, Monuments of

AND MONOGRAPHS

116

UXMAL

Yucatan. Field . Columbian Mu-
seum, Anthropological Series, Publi-
cation 8, vol. i, no. I, Chicago, Dec.

Uxmal, pp. 80-96, pi. v-ix, fig. 26. This
is the most important and detailed descrip-
tion of the main buildings of Uxmal. PL viii
is a sketch map, and pi. ix a panorama of the
group which gives a splendid conception of
this wonderful ruined city. Professor Holmes
was a member of the Armour Expedition,
and was in Uxmal in January, 1895. The
"inscribed stela or column" on pi. vii was
discovered by Le Plongeon.

1896

Mercer, Henry C. Hill-caves of Yuca-
tan. A search for evidence of man's
antiquity in the caverns of Central
America, being an account of the
Corwith expedition of the Depart-
ment of Archseolo'gy and Palae-
ontology of the University of Penn-
sylvania. Philadelphia.

In chap, x, Uxmal, pp. 85-90, fig. 32,
Mercer records a visit to the ruins in 1895,
but adds nothing to our knowledge of them.

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

117

Foulke, William Dudley. Uxmal.

Monthly Illustrator, New York, no.
12, pp. 256-263, 11 ill.

A very readable account of the ruins,
with original illustrations. Mr Foulke
visited Uxmal for material to furnish local
color for a novel, "Maya a Story of Yuca-
tan," published by G. P. Putnam's Sons,
New York and London, 1900.

1897

Mercer, Henry C. Cave hunting in
Yucatan. Technology Quarterly,

Boston, December, vol. x, no. 4.
Mention of Uxmal, pp. 364-365, 1 pi.

Neue Forschungen in den Ruinen von
Uxmal (Yukatan). Globus, Bd.
lxxi, H. 14, 3 April, pp. 220-224,

4 %.

A review of the part of Holmes' work
relating to Uxmal, with two of Maler's
photographs of the "Nunnery" group.

1903

Seler, Eduard. Ein Wintersemester in
Mexico und Yucatan. Zeitschrift

AND MONOGRAPHS

118

UXMAL

der Gesellschaft fur Erdkunde zu Ber-
lin, Bd. 38, pp. 477-502.

Seler publishes a photograph of the corner
of one of the buildings of the "Nunnery"
group, showing three masks with upturned,
curled noses.

1905

Gordon, George Byron. The serpent
motive in the ancient art of Central
America and Mexico. Transactions
of the Department of Archceology,
University of Pennsylvania, Phila-
delphia, vol. I, pt. III.

Examples of the sculptured details of the
Uxmal buildings are used in the develop-
ment of the author's thesis. See pi. vii
and xiii.

1906

Seler, Eduard. Studien in den Ruinen
von Yucatan. Correspondenzblatt
der deutschen Gesellschaft fiir Anthro-
pologic, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte,
Bd. xxxv, pp. 114-116, 1903.

Enlarged in Compte Rendu de la
X Verne session du Congres inter-
national des Americanistes, Quebec,

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

119

1906, tome 11, pp. 414-422. In-
cluded in Gesammelte Abhandlungen
zur Amerikanischen Sprach- und
Alter thumskunde, Berlin, 1908, Dri ti-
ter Band, pp. 710-717, 5 fig.

This is a study of the astronomical sym-
bolism and glyphs of the temples of Uxmal.

1907

Molina Solis, Juan Francisco. El
primer obispado de la nacion Meji-
cana. Articulos publicados sobre
esta materia y sobre otros puntos de
nuestra historia. Articulos sobre la
historia antigua de Yucatan. I, La
Ruina de Uxmal, pp. 79-84. II,
Ruina de Uxmal (continuacion),
pp. 85-91. Merida de Yucatan.

Historical study of the rise and fall of
Uxmal.

1908

Zayas Enriquez, Rafael. El estado de

Yucatan su pasado su presente su

porvenir. New York.

Photographs of Uxmal, p. 219; El Templo
del Adivino, p. 222; Casa de las Monjas,

AND MONOGRAPHS

120

UXMAL

p. 229; Palacio del Gobernador, p. 231; El
Caracol, p. 243; Casa de las Monjas.

IQOQ

Saville, Marshall H. The cruciform

structures of Mitla and vicinity.

Putnam Anniversary Volume, New

York.

Comparison of Uxmal and Mitla "mosaic"
stone walls, p. 188, pi. xiii.

Morley, Sylvanus Griswold. A group
of related structures at Uxmal,
Mexico. American Journal of Ar-
chaeology, Second ser., vol. xiv (1910),
pp. 1-18, 2 pi., 2 fig.

Arnold, Channing, and Frost, Fred-
eric J. Tabor. The American
Egypt. A record of travel in Yuca-
tan. New York.

Uxmal is described briefly on pp. 200-203.
The authors justly state that "undoubtedly
there is a large field for work here, which
will amply reward archaeologists in those
days when the 'dog in the manger' policy
of the Mexican ' Jacks in office ' is a thing of
the past, and intelligent landowners, such
as Sefior Peom can assist students in every

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

121

way instead of having their hands fettered
by absurd Federal rules."

1910

RlCKARDS, CONSTANTINE GEORGE.

ruins of Mexico. London.

The

Vol. 1, pp. 21-23, 39 mounted photographs
of Uxmal. This is the most extensive col-
lection of photographs of the ruins of Uxmal
that have been published.

IQIO (?)

Young, W. P., compiler. In Mayaland
Yucatan. [n.p., n.d.] [A folder]
11 Issued by a representative group
of Yucatecan planters and mer-
chants," the Yucatan Tours Bureau.

It is copiously illustrated, and contains 18
beautiful illustrations of Uxmal, 9 of which
were made by Teobert Maler. The copy in
the collection of the compiler has been anno-
tated by Maler.

1911

Case, Henry A. Views on and of
Yucatan, besides notes upon parts
of Campeche and the territory of
Quintana Roo. Collected during a

AND MONOGRAPHS

122

UXMAL

long residence in the peninsula.
Merida.

The description of Uxmal (pp. 123-154,
9 pi., 2 maps) is: (1) How to get there; (2)
Criticism of Le Plongeon; (3) Description
of buildings; (4) Legends.

Morley, Sylvanus Griswold. An-
cient temples and cities of the New
World. Uxmal, the city of the
Xius. Bulletin of the Pan American
Union, Washington, vol. 32, April,
pp. 627-642, 11 ill.

1912

Maler, Teobert. Lista de las ilus-
traciones para una proyectada pub-
licacion de Teobert Maler, en el
libro de recuerdos del Congreso de
Americanistas.

A series of photographs made by Maler,
published in Resena de la segunda sesion del
XVII Congreso Internacional de American-
istas efectuada en la Ciudad de Mexico durante
el mes de Sepliembre de 1010, Mexico, 191 2.
The second series of plates, nos. 1-8, are of
Uxmal, of a building, and sculptures near

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

123

tombs in the vicinity of the said building,
never before published.

Huntington, Ellsworth. The penin-
sula of Yucatan. Bulletin of the
American Geographical Society, New
York, vol. xliv, no. n.

On p. 819 is a view of the central design of
the facade of the House of the Governor,
wrongly captioned as "of a ruin at Kabah."

1913

Seler, Eduard. Ueber einige Altere
Systeme in den Ruinen von Uxmal.
Proceedings of the Eighteenth Inter-
national Congress of Americanists,
IQ12, London, pp. 220-235, 3 pi.,
14 fig.

Spinden, Herbert Joseph. A study
of Maya art, its subject matter and
historical development. Memoirs of
the Peabody Museum of American
ArchcEology and Ethnology, Cam-
bridge, vol. VI.

Contains numerous references to Uxmal.

AND MONOGRAPHS

124

UXMAL

On pp. 5-8 is a translation of the description
of Uxmal made in 1586 by Father Ponce
(see pp. 70-78 herein).

1914

Huntington, Ellsworth. The mys-
tery of the Yucatan ruins. Harper' s
Magazine, New York, April.

On p. 762 is a picture of one of the exterior
arched rooms of the House of the Governor.

1915

Hewett, Edgar Lee. Ancient America
at the Panama-California Exposi-
tion. Art and Archceology, Washing-
ton, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 64-102.

On p. 92 reference is made to Uxmal, and
on p. 93 is a reproduction of Vierra's pan-
oramic painting of the site. On p. 101 is a
photograph of Holmes' model of the House
of the Governor, which is described on pp.
100-101.

Seler, Eduard. Die Ruinen von Ux-
mal. Zeitschrift fiLr Ethnologie, Ber-
lin, Bd. xlvii, pp. 429-432.

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

125

1916

Hewett, Edgar Lee. "America's archae-
ological heritage. Art and Archce-
ology, Washington, vol. iv, no. 6,
December.

On pp. 263 and 265 are photographs of
three Uxmal buildings.

1917

Seler, Eduard. Die Ruinen von Ux-
mal. Abhandlungen der kbniglichen
preuss. Akademie der Wissenschaft-
en, Phil. -Hist. Klasse, no. 3, Berlin,
154 PP-

Morley, Sylvanus Griswold. The
rise and fall of the Maya civilization
in the light of the monuments and
the native chronicles. Proceedings
of the Nineteenth International Con-
gress of Americanists, 1915, Wash-
ington, pp. 140-149, 11 pi.

PL v, c, gives a painting of the Uxmal site
made by Carlos Vierra. Some historical
information concerning the ruins is given.

AND MONOGRAPHS

126

UXMAL

1918

Gann, Dr Thomas. The Maya Indians
of southern Yucatan and northern
British Honduras Bulletin 64,
Bureau of American Ethnology,
Washington.

On pp. 140-142 Dr Gann describes two
human heads of stucco from Uxmal, the
faces painted in several colors. These are
now in the Museum of the American Indian,
Heye Foundation.

As Dr Gann did not illustrate these very
important specimens of stucco-work, we
give them in pis. v-vi. They are beauti-
fully modeled and may be taken as portraits
of individuals of high rank. The heads are
life-size, the one shown in pi. v b^'rig 11 in.
high, the face having a height of 8f in. This
head is represented placed in a beak, only
the lower part being left in our specimen.
It is painted black, with brown patches
placed on each side of the mouth. The lipsj
are red, and the eyes are white with black
pupils, and a line of brown encircles the
entire eye on the lids. There is a twisted
fillet on the top of the head, which comes
down on each side of the face in front of and
below the ears. The lower part has been
broken off. There is a labret in the upper

INDIAN NOTES

SAVILLE UXMAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

PL. V

PAINTED STUCCO HEAD FROM A RECENTLY DISCOVERED CHAMBER
IN THE HOUSE OF THE GOVERNOR, UXMAL

SAVILLE UXMAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

PL. V!

PAINTED STUCCO HEAD FROM A RECENTLY DISCOVERED CHAMBER
IN THE HOUSE OF THE GOVERNOR, UXMAL

SAVILLE — UXMAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

PL. VII

PAINTED STUCCO HEAD FROM A RECENTLY DISCOVERED CHAMBER
IN THE HOUSE OF THE GOVERNOR, UXMAL

BIBLIOGRAPHY

127

lip, and a curious ornament on the nose.
Broad, white bands are painted around the
eyes. The large, circular ear-ornaments are
painted red. On the forehead are four
protruding pellets placed one above the
other, a familiar feature on many heads of
stone and clay found in the Mayan area.
The small, grotesque head shown in pi. vn
is painted black, with three red discs for
eyes and mouth. Is it reported that this
piece formed a kind of helmet for the portrait
head just described. It is 6 in. high.

The other portrait head, illustrated in pi.
vi, is 9 in. high, the face being the same size
as that of the other. It is painted in the
same colors, the only difference in treatment
being in the lip-ornament, which consists of
two pellets instead of one. This head has
also the twisted fillet, but there is no evidence
of ears in the specimens as broken from the
main figure. Both heads are said to have
been found in a sealed chamber, broken into
in the House of the Governor, in the section
of the arched connection of the northern
recess in the outer wall on the western side.
These two heads are the finest examples of
stucco-work as yet found in Yucatan, where
this material was sparingly used. They may
be compared with the beautiful stucco-work
at Palenque.

AND MONOGRAPHS

128

UXMAL

191,9

Morley, Sylvanus Griswold. Arche-
ology. Extracted from Year Book
No. 17 of the Carnegie Institution of
Washington (for 191 8), pp. 269-276.

Gives an interpretation of several inscrip-
tions at Uxmal, corresponding with the years
1 2 19 and 1277 a.d., the results of an expedi-
tion to Yucatan, February to April, 191 8.

Mena, Ramon. Cipactonal (de la
"Casa del Adivino" en Uxmal
Yucatan). Memorias y Revista de
la Sociedad Cientifica Antonio Alzate,
Mexico, tomo 38, nums. 5-8, pp.
271-275, pi. xxviii, fig. on p. 372.

1920

Morley, Sylvanus Griswold. The
inscriptions at Copan. Publications
of the Carnegie Institution of Washing-
ton, Appendix 11.

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

129

AUTHORS

Arnold, Channing, 1909

Baker, Frank Collins, 1895

Bancroft, Hubert Howe, 1881

Banks, David Saltonstall, 1889

Books of Chilam Balam, 1595

Bote, Juan, 1581

Brasseur de Bourbourg, Abbe, 1858, 1867

Brine, Lindsay, 1894

Buchon, J. A., 1825

Cabrera, Dr Paul Felix, 1822

Case, Henry A., 191 1

Catherwood, Frederick, 1844, 1854

Charnay, Desire, i860, 1863, 1884, 1885,

1887
Chavero, Alfredo, 1887
Chilam Balam, Books of, 1595
Ciudad Real, Fr Antonio, 1588
Claims to Land, 1687-1688
Cogolludo, Fr Diego Lopez de, 1688
Documents, 1556, 1557
Foulke, William Dudley, 1896
Friedrichstal, Emmanuel de, 1841
Frost, Frederic J. Tabor, 1909

AND MONOGRAPHS

130

UXMAL

Gann, Thomas, 1918

Gordon, George Byron, 1905

Haebler, Karl, 1895

Heller, Carl, 1853

Hewett, Edgar L., 1915, 1916

Holmes, William H., 1895

Huntington, Ellsworth, 1912, 1914

Le Plongeon, Alice D., 1885

L. G., 1845

Maler, Teobert, 1912

Mani, Indian map of, 1557 (?)

Mena, Ramon, 1919

Mercer, Henry C., 1896, 1897

M. F. P., 1845

Molina Solis, Juan Francisco, 1907

Morgan, Lewis Henry, 1880, 1881

Morley, Sylvanus Griswold, 1909, 191 1,

1917, 1919, 1920
Muhlenpfordt, Eduard, 1844
Norman, B. M., 1843
Ober, Frederick A., 1884, 1888
Paso y Troncoso, Francisco del, 1893
Ramirez, Jose Fernando, 1865
Rice, Allen Thorndike, 1880
Rickards, Constantine George, 1910
Salisbury, Stephen, 1877

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

131

Sanchez de Aguilar, Pedro, 1639
Saville, Marshall H., 1892, 1909
Seler, Eduard, 1903, 1906, 1913, 1915,

1917
Spinden, Herbert Joseph, 1913
Stephens, John L., 1841, 1843, 1848-50,

1853, 1854
Title Deeds, 1673
Un Curioso, 1845
Varigny, C. V. C. de, 1879, 1891
Viollet-le-Duc, M., 1866
Waldeck, Frederick, 1838
Warden, David B., 1825
Young, W. P., 1910 (?)
Zavala, Lorenzo de, 1834
Zayas Enriquez, Rafael, 1908

AND MONOGRAPHS

INDIAN NOTES
AND MONOGRAPHS

Edited by F. W. Hodge

VOL. IX IKC«1 No. 3

A SERIES OF PUBLICA-
TIONS RELATING TO THE
AMERICAN ABORIGINES

REPORTS ON THE MAYA
INDIANS OF YUCATAN

SANTIAGO MENDEZ,

ANTONIO GARCIA Y CUBAS,

PEDRO SANCHEZ DE AGUILAR,

AND

FRANCISCO HERNANDEZ

EDITED BY

MARSHALL H. SAVILLE

NEW YORK

MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN
HEYE FOUNDATION

1921

Only the first ten volumes of Indian
Notes and Monographs are numbered.
The unnumbered parts may readily be
determined by consulting the List of
Publications issued as one of the series.

INDIAN NOTES
AND MONOGRAPHS

Edited by F. W. Hodge

VOL. IX SmT^M No. 3

A SERIES OF PUBLICA-
TIONS RELATING TO THE
AMERICAN ABORIGINES

REPORTS ON THE MAYA
INDIANS OF YUCATAN

SANTIAGO MENDEZ,

ANTONIO GARCl'A Y CUBAS,

PEDRO SANCHEZ DE AGUILAR,

AND
FRANCISCO HERNANDEZ

EDITED BY

MARSHALL H. SAVILLE

NEW YORK

MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN
HEYE FOUNDATION

1921

REPORTS ON THE MAYA
INDIANS OF YUCATAN

SANTIAGO MENDEZ

ANTONIO GARCIA Y CUBAS,

PEDRO SANCHEZ DE AGUILAR

AND

FRANCISCO HERNANDEZ

EDITED BY

MARSHALL H. SAVILLE

CONTENTS

PAGE

Preface 139

The Maya Indians of Yucatan in 1861, by

Santiago Mendez 143

Customs 143

Women 177

Dress 190

Language 192

Stature, Physiognomy, Color 192

Savage Tribes 194

Note by Antonio Garcia y Cubas 196

Notes on the Superstitions of the In-
dians of Yucatan (1639), by Pedro

Sanchez de Aguilar 202

Of the Religious Beliefs of the Indians
of Yucatan in 1545. Report of Fran-
cisco Hernandez 209

Glossary 216

Bibliography 221

Notes 223

137

INDIAN NOTES

PREFACE

O LITTLE has been written in
regard to the ethnology of the
Maya Indians of Yucatan, and
especially concerning their be-
liefs, which persist to the present time,
that we publish here a translation of an
important and practically unknown ac-
count of this subject. This report was
printed in Mexico in 1870, but it is buried
in a study by Antonio Garcia y Cubas
entitled "Materiales para formar la
Estadistica General de la Republica
Mexicana," in Boletin de la Sociedad
Mexicana de Geo graft a y Estadistica,
segunda epoca, tomo 11, pp. 352-388.
It is on pages 374-387, bears the date
Merida, October 24, 1861, and was
written by Santiago Mendez, who states
that he was governor of Yucatan during
the years 1841-42. In connection with a

INDIAN NOTES

140

MAYA INDIANS

study of this report, so far as it relates to
the beliefs of the Maya, it will be profit-
able to consult the paper by Dr Daniel G.
Brinton on The Folk-lore of Yucatan,
printed in the Folk-Lore Journal, London,
vol. i, part viii, 13 pp., August, 1883.

We have also had translated the notes
on the superstitions of the Indians of
Yucatan contained in the work of Pedro
Sanchez de Aguilar, 1639, published by
the Museo Nacional of Mexico in 1892
(pp. 83-84), and the report of Francisco
Hernandez on the religious beliefs of the
Yucatan Indians, which was sent to
Bartolome de las Casas, evidently while
Bishop of Yucatan in 1545, and is given by
him in chapter cxxiii (pp. 328-330) of
his Apologetica Historia de las Indias, a
work which did not appear in print until
1875-76, the first complete edition of
which was edited by M. Serrano y Sanz,
and printed at Madrid in 1909.

The information contained in the
Mendez report is strikingly similar to
that given by Bartolome Jose Granado
Baeza on Los Indios de Yucatan, an

INDIAN NOTES

PREFACE

141

account written in 1813 but not pub-
lished until 1845, when it appeared in the
Registro Yucateco, tomo I, pp. 165-178.
This report of Baeza is one of the princi-
pal sources used by Brinton in his study.
The editor has incorporated a few brief
notes, and has prepared a glossary of the
Indian words and a short bibliography of
the subject.

Marshall H. Saville.

AND MONOGRAPHS

THE MAYA INDIANS OF
YUCATAN IN 1861

By Santiago Mendez

Report on the Customs, Labor, Language,
Industry, Physiognomy, etc., of the Indians
of Yucatan, made by the Agent of the
Department of Public Works, who signs
this report, in obedience to orders of
February 6, 1861.

CUSTOMS

HE character of the Indians of
Yucatan is such that, were
they to be judged only by
their customs and their habits,

we would have to qualify them as stupid
and devoid of reason. It seems indiffer-
ent to them to be in the shade or exposed
to rain or to the scorching rays of the
sun, even though they could avoid it.

INDIAN NOTES

144

MAYA INDIANS

It does not matter to them whether they
go dressed or naked. They never try to
obtain commodities they see other races
enjoy, even though the trouble or sacri-
fice it would cost to get them might be
but small. In order to rest or to chat
with their companions they hardly ever
sit down: they squat, it being quite in-
different to them that they do it in a sun
that scorches them when they might per-
haps have shade two steps from where
they are. Reward does not encourage
them, nor does punishment admonish
them; in the first place, they think they
deserve more, — perhaps because they
were always accustomed to be made use
of, — and in the second case they con-
sider punishment as a kind of fatality
from which it is quite useless to try to
deliver themselves: hence they do not
reform. So long as their hunger is stilled,
it is quite indifferent to them whether
their meal is exquisite and varied, or
whether it consists only of tortillas and
chile, devouring their food in either case
with astounding voracity. When they

INDIAN NOTES

MENDEZ REPORT

145

find themselves driven by utter necessity,
they will work in order to remedy it,
but they never do so with zeal or with
the desire to improve their fortunes.
They are so improvident that they may
squander in one day the earnings of a
week, in an exaggerated amount of dain-
ties or in superstitious practices, and
above all by intoxicating themselves,
leaving their families without bread and
clothing. Or, they remain idle until
whatever they earned by the sweat of
their brow is gone. They cultivate a
cornfield and gather a good harvest from
it, and even though they do not need
to do so, they will sell the corn with con-
siderable loss in order to squander the
money in splendid repasts and supersti-
tions, both of which always go together.
This harvest might insure the subsistence
of their family for a whole year, but their
improvidence will reduce them within a
few days to having to sell themselves for
work (peonage).

The love of the parents for their child-
ren, of the children for their parents, and

AND MONOGRAPHS

146

MAYA INDIANS

between husband and wife, is barely
lukewarm, and not at all passionate, if
we are to judge from their absolute lack
of signs of sympathy, pity, or condolence.
They contemplate dry-eyed and rather
indifferently the suffering of their nearest,
and even their demise, without allowing
this to change their demeanor or letting
it interfere in the least with their general
customs of life.

Although some of them can read and
write, they use it very little, either be-
cause they are very slow and clumsy in
the exercise of both, on account, no
doubt, of the lack of practice, and also
because there is but little written in their
own language.

Their children have usually no other
education than that which they receive
from the curates, priests, choirmasters,
and teachers of the catechism, which edu-
cation was formerly given to them at the
church doors or in the mansions of the
large ranches and farms, and they were
compelled to assemble every morning
from seven to eight to learn the cate-

INDIAN NOTES

MENDEZ REPORT

147

chism. At the present day, as it is not
possible to force the parents to send their
children to learn even this, there are but
few who learn at all, especially among the
boys. When the writer of this was
governor of this state in the years 1841
and 1842, he succeeded in establishing
primary schools in almost all the villages,
and although averse to anything that
looks or sounds like despotism, he author-
ized, nevertheless, the mayors, justices of
the peace, and chieftains (caciques1) to use
it in order to force parents to send their
children to the said schools. Unfor-
tunately, in 1842 came the invasion by
the forces of general Santa Anna, and in
the effort to resist them, all the resources
of the state were spent for many years in
advance. Then followed our own sense-
less revolutions and the almost general
uprising of these same Indians against the
other native races, consequently these
schools passed out of existence without it
having been possible until this day to
reestablish them. Hence this remains an
unsolved problem and it is difficult to

AND MONOGRAPHS

148

MAYA INDIANS

calculate the profit they might have
brought (once the tenacious and per-
sistent opposition of the Indians over-
come), leaving them convinced of the
advantages it might mean to further their
knowledge even in the manual labor they
perform.

Generally they train their children
from a very early age to help in their
agricultural labor such as their fore-
fathers did before the conquest, or else
they teach them light manual labor, such
as weaving little mats or matting in
general, making small bags, baskets of all
kinds and sizes, leather bands such as are
used by the native porters, sacks, ham-
mocks, ropes, to prepare henequen from
agave fiber, to make straw hats, and so
forth. In some villages they are taught
to make common pottery, and in places
near the coast they are shown howT to
extract salt, to fish, and seamanship in
general. It is very rare that they are
taught other arts and crafts or trades,
with the exception perhaps in cities or
principal towns, where, especially when

INDIAN NOTES

MENDEZ REPORT

149

they have been reared and educated in
the households of white people, they may
become efficient in the art of quarrying
stone, though quite primitively, or they
qualify as masons, shoemakers, tailors,
muleteers, drivers, and cowboys. They
also provide the town with firewood,
charcoal, and fodder.

With regard to their marriage customs,
there is little else to say except that the
daughter-in-law goes to live in the house
of her father-in-law, and the son-in-law
goes to live with his wife's parents, which
is at present the most usual way, because
an episcopal edict had to be issued pro-
hibiting the first-mentioned to avoid the
very frequent abuses committed on the
bride by her father-in-law and brothers-
in-law. At a very early age young men
marry, without repugnance, women who
are much older, widows, and even girls
who have children born out of wedlock.
To remonstrances made by those who
wish to dissuade them in view of such
conditions, they will reply, "Why should
I care? This happened before my time!"

AND MONOGRAPHS

150

MAYA INDIANS

It is to be supposed that conjugal fidelity
is not regarded very scrupulously by such
couples. Their most common diseases
depend largely on the seasons, and recur
regularly. During summer and fall,
when fresh food is abundant, the Indians
are very immoderate in its use, conse-
quently they suffer from diarrhea and
vomiting. In spring and summer they
have tabardilloj which is a burning fever,
and dysentery, both of which are caused
by too much exposure to the hot sun;
and in winter obstinate constipation,
colds, and affections of the throat and
lungs. Their curative methods consist
merely of abstinence and of bleeding,
which they perform with a thorn or a
fish-bone, and they cool their blood by
drinking sour pozole or boiled lemonade,
or else a decoction of a plant called
xhantumbu. They never use emetics nor
cathartics.

Ordinarily they eat two meals a day,
one on rising and another in the evening.
If they go to work in the field, after hav-
ing breakfasted on tortillas and atole, they

INDIAN NOTES

MENDEZ REPORT

151

take with them a large lump of pozole
which they use as a refreshment at noon
by diluting it in water. At sunset they
leave work, and, returning home, eat the
second meal, generally after having taken
their bath. Their usual food consists of
boiled vegetables seasoned with salt,
chile, and sometimes with the juice of
oranges (the sour orange is used for this)
or of lemons. On Sundays, if they are
able to do so, they buy beef or pork;
these are the only days when they eat
meat, except when they kill a wild bird
or a creature of the woods while hunting.
Such meat they cook by baking it in a
special way in the earth, or else in pib.
The very poor among them live all the
year round on tortillas and chile, and a
bowlful of pozole or atole. Even the
wealthiest content themselves with only
one dish. This does not interfere with
their being big eaters, nor devouring all
they can get when it does not cost them
anything.

Their usual beverage is called pitarrilla,
consisting of the bark of a plant called

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balche which they put in soak in fresh
water and honey and let it ferment.
After fermentation it becomes strong
enough to be intoxicating. They are also
very fond of liquor, and there are very few
among them who do not become intoxi-
cated occasionally, at least on Sundays.
Experience, and to a certain extent
tradition, are their only guides for
telling the different seasons of the year;
they have not the slightest remembrance
of their ancient calendar system. They
are accustomed to hear clocks strike
where such exist, but otherwise, simply
from the course of the sun, moon, and
stars, they are able to regulate the hours
of the day and night, more or less. They
also know when an eclipse of the moon
is approaching, attributing this phe-
nomenon to an intention of the sun to
destroy his satellite, and they therefore
are prepared to make a fearful racket with
sticks, mitotes, whistles or horns (fotutos2),
shotguns, and other instruments during
the eclipse, believing that by so doing
they can avoid the catastrophe.

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153

They sleep from early evening until
four oclock in the morning. Their work-
ing hours, if it is at all necessary for them
to go to work, last from sunrise to sunset.
If they are paid, they walk or travel at
all hours, even with a load.

There are a few among them who are
trustworthy and faithful in their con-
tracts, and know how to keep their word
and promises; but there is a greater
number who absolutely lack all of these
virtues, with the exception, perhaps, of
the solemn promises they make to their
saints, in the fulfilment of which they are
scrupulously punctual.

They lie easily and very frequently,
although they are aware that lies are
prohibited. Generally they evade, when-
ever possible, a truthful answer which is to
the point and fully satisfies the question.

Their principal vices are lasciviousness
among both sexes, and drunkenness
among the men. To do them justice
though, we might as well acknowledge
that it is more than probable that if other
races and tribes had to live as they do,

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almost naked, in the complete liberty
and isolation of country places, all mem-
bers of one family, males and females,
grownups and minors, the married and
the single ones sleeping together in those
little huts without any, or at best, very
scant, knowledge of religion, of modesty
and honor, without any fear of the conse-
quences of unchastity to the women,
without any intellectual enjoyment, re-
duced to the merest essentials — to satisfy
hunger, thirst, sleep, and the intercourse
of the two sexes, might they not be guilty
of worse crimes?

They are generally accused of being
inclined to theft, but as a rule they steal
small things of little value, and they are

not known to recur to violence or murder

to satisfy this tendency.

The wealthy are free money-lenders to

members of their own tribe and even to

those of a different stock, so long as they

are satisfied they are not going to be

cheated.

As in almost all of the most populated

part of the Yucatecan peninsula, it is

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155

impossible to use the plow for tilling the
fields; labor is reduced to clearing the
tropical growth by burning it in the
height of summer and sowing corn or
vegetables when the rains commence,
to fencing in the fields and weeding them,
etc. In order to be able to cultivate at
one time as much as possible of their
extensive lands, the wealthy Indians pay
their day-laborers and volunteers ex-
ceedingly well, either in money or in its
equivalent in provisions at a price below
its actual market value, especially in
times of scarcity. They are guided in
this by the rule, "This is sweat of my
brethren and it is not right that they
should pay it too dearly." If those
workers are servants of some large ranch
and live on the place, they are called
Luneros* because they give their master
their day's work on Mondays in exchange
for the land he gives them to cultivate
for themselves . and for the water he
allows them for irrigation of their fields.
If they do not, for one reason or another,
go to work on that day, he receives one

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MAYA INDIANS

•

real in silver instead. The customary
amount of work they really are com-
pelled to do for their master per year is
twenty mecates of clearing of untilled
land and another twenty of already
previously tilled fields. Had the owner
to pay for hired labor, this would amount
to 12 pesos, 4 reals. In addition to this
they have to give him two hours on
Saturdays for what they call fagina,*
which means work around the house of
any kind their patron should order them
to do. On some of the ranches the
obligatory field-work is reduced to half,
but in this case they have to pay their
real for Mondays, and always have to do
the Saturday's fagina. Any other service
or work they may be called on to do is
paid or put to their account. By milpa
roza,b the first clearing of a field by
felling trees, cutting and burning under-
growth, etc., is meant; while the milpa
cana^ is the clearing of fields that have
already been tilled the year before, where
the cornstalks are to be split and burnt
in order to plant again.

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157

Those who are employed as cowboys
on stock-farms receive a fixed wage, and
are not subject to the Monday service nor
to the usual field-work. They have to
look after the cattle and horses, and they
have charge of the draw-wells, the tanks,
and drinking pools. They have to
attend to irrigation, weeding, and sowing
of the truck gardens and orchards, and
in general to do all work performed on
such ranches either for their conservation
and improvement or else in personal
service to the owners or for the advantage
of its products. It is also their duty to
rasp a certain amount of henequen fiber
from the agave each day. Their wage is
from eight to twelve reals per month and
five altitudes7 of corn per week. Yet
neither this latter nor the salary are
paid to him as his earnings, but credited
to his account against what he draws in
provisions or money, so that he actually
is always indebted. This, however, is
the aim of the owners, in order to hold
the man quite secure, even though they
know very well that, should the man die

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MAYA INDIANS

in their service, they would lose that
amount. They see to it, however, that
he never owes too much. This really
constitutes a kind of slavery (peonage)
which the men try to avenge by serving
as poorly as they can, even to such
masters as aim to make their lot easy
and agreeable by frequent gifts or
bonuses.

As a rule the Yucatecan Indians are
regarded as being meek, humble, and not
easily stirred to ire and cruelty, basing
such an opinion on the fact that the most
customary punishment among them was
a whipping applied with moderation.
This kind of punishment did not offend
them, if they were informed of the reason
why it was meted out to them, nor did
they consider it degrading. This char-
acteristic is still noticeable among those
who have remained submissive and
attached to the white people. It is
quite different with those among them
who have had to suffer the cruel, atro-
cious, and protracted martyrdom in-
flicted by the rebels. They are merciless

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159

to those who have fallen and still fall into
their power, not only those of other
tribes, but even of their own, in case they
refuse to follow their tracks. They have
no pity on either age or sex.

The chieftains (cagiques) of today, as
well as those who were in office in the
past, and the most prominent or wealthy
Indians, live just as simply as the rest,
without the slightest variation. They all
are respected by their subordinates, whom
they do not oppress to their own ad-
vantage, nor do they demand any
services from them without compensa-
tion.

The Indians are generally gay, light-
hearted, gossipy, and fond of tricks, in
which they can display strength, agility,
and adroitness. They are also very fond
of music and song, although not very
gifted or talented in the execution of the
former especially. At their feasts and
dances, which usually are rather tumul-
tuous and poorly organized, they still use
some of the old songs in their own
language, to the accompaniment of a

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MAYA INDIANS

little raucous flute, the carapace of a
turtle (hicotea), upon which they beat the
time with a hart's horn, and of the mitote
or taukul. The mitote* is a solid piece of
wood of cylindrical shape, one yard long
and a third of a yard or a little more in
diameter, open at one side almost from
one end to the other. This opening is
made for the purpose of hollowing out
the piece of wood until it is reduced to
one inch or a little more in thickness.
On the opposite side of the mouth, or
opening, they fasten two oblong wings,
which, starting at both ends, meet in the
center and are separated from one an-
other by a serrated edge. In order to
play this instrument, they place it,
mouth downward, on the ground, so
that the wings remain on the topmost
side, and they hit them with two short
sticks whose points are covered with an
elastic resin that makes them jump, so
as not to deaden or confound the sound,
which is of such resonance and force that
it may be heard at a distance of two
leagues.

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161

Notwithstanding the fact that they
regard death almost with indifference,
they are timid and cowardly. They never
attack the enemy unless they are far
superior in number. Still, they are very
astute or cunning to plan ambushes and
to take advantage of every occasion to
surprise their foes, and then fight with
great advantage, always accompanying
the fighting with frightful shouting.
They are generally good marksmen, and
they handle the machete9 with admirable
skill. Whenever they see that they can-
not resist the onslaught, they disperse in
the woods, but almost instantly come
together again at a previously designated
meeting-place. They are very fleet of
foot and good racers, and of an almost
incredible endurance for walking long
distances, even with a load of six to eight
arrobas [150 to 200 pounds]10 on their
backs. They also can stand a long time
without food or drink.

They do not excel in writing or in
learning to write, although not a few
have studied the same length of time and

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the same subjects as white men, but they
are generally clownish and slow of under-
standing. It happens very often that
after they have been given a clear and
oft-repeated order, they will manage to
execute it the wrong way, and their
memory is so short that, although they
attend catechism daily from the age of
six or seven until they are twelve or four-
teen years of age, there are very many
among them who have never been able
either to learn it or to commit it to
memory. Those, however, who do not
evade those lessons and who furthermore
attend the preaching of the gospel in
their own language, have obtained Cath-
olic ideas about eternity, the last judg-
ment, the glory of God, purgatory, and
hell.

As the climate of the peninsula is so
hot that it exhausts our physical strength
and energy, as well as reduces the needs
of man who can live almost nude and in
the open air and feed himself sparingly,
we cannot expect that the Indian should
be particularly inclined to work. We

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163

had the same experience among the other
native races, although perhaps their
social standard may impose greater
necessities. A hut of six or seven yards
in length by three or four in width, he
builds himself; its walls consist of rows
of sticks (which sometimes are covered
with a coat of clay) and thatched with
palm-leaves or grass, with a door fre-
quently made of reeds twined together.
Two or three roughly-woven hammocks
of henequen, a machete, perchance a hoe,
perhaps a hatchet, and, very rarely, a
poor shotgun, are all his furniture. A
metate to grind his corn, an earthen pot
to boil it, another pot to cook the vege-
tables and the atole, a comal or flat
earthenware plate to cook the corn-
cakes or tortillas, a pitcher for water,
one or two jicaras of guero,11 an equal
number of gourds cut in halves to make
drinking vessels and for other purposes,
are the eating utensils. A roughly-made,
circular stool of half a yard in diameter
and about as much in height, and which
is used for shaping the tortillas as well

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MAYA INDIANS

as for a table at which they eat their
meals, etc. Fifteen to twenty yards of
cotton cloth for the man's clothes, for the
wife's, and for the children's, which
costs a real per yard, supposing the
woman does nut spin and weave this
herself; two or three coarse needles, a
reel of cotton thread, a straw hat, sandals,
a handkerchief and a cotton belt; a
large straw basket or hamper, a mccapal,
and a sack of henequen, complete the
list. A trough in which to wash clothes
and to bathe themselves; a few pounds
of corn which he sows himself, as well as
chile, beans, calabazas,12 camotc [sweet
potatoes], and jicama,u a bunch of
bananas, the leaf of which is used to shape
the tortillas, and perhaps a sour orange.
His wood he himself cuts in the forest for
cooking his meals and also for the lire
which he keeps all night in the center of
the hut; and lastly a little salt. This is
the entire inventory of the necessaries of
life an Indian family of Yucatan needs,
and which suffices even to the wealthy
ones in the larger towns and principal

INDIAN NOTES

MENDEZ REPORT

cities. A great many of them live even
without some of the things enumerated.
They substitute for corn and vegetables
(in case they cannot have them either for
not having sown or for having lost the
harvest), fruits, roots, and indigenous
plants which grow wild all over their
country, and which are edible and nour-
ishing. Shall we still ask why the Yuca-
tecan Indian is so indolent, when he has
such few and such modest necessities, all
of which are so easy to obtain even in the
midst of the forests and at a great dis-
tance from any other human habitation?
He instinctively hates the superiority
of the white race, and even of the mesti-
zos, to whom institutions both of long
ago and of the present day, customs,
greater civilization, and above all the
allotment of land, give so many ad-
vantages. His almost irresistible inclina-
tion carries him into isolation, almost
exile, in order to escape from the torment
of seeing them and from social duties.
He retires where the land is free, where
he can till his field wherever he pleases.

165

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MAYA INDIANS

This accounts for the often very small
settlements of perhaps only a couple of
families in the thickets of the forests,
provided they find a spring or at least a
watering place, even though they might
have to travel a considerable distance to
provide themselves. But even those who
live in larger settlements, in towns of
white people, will invariably select the
most retired spots in streets in the out-
skirts (far away from the center of the
town) where to build their huts.

This isolation in the big forests is the
principal cause of his becoming more and
more brutish, and it grows with the
facility which those same isolated places
afford him to satisfy the one and only
desire he has acquired — drunkenness.
It is there he finds balche and wild honey
to brew his pitarrilla. And there are
ever some of his own race or mestizos who
bring him liquor in exchange for the little
corn he may have stored. He gives this
up with an improvidence which seems
innate, though perhaps we might attri-
bute it to ignorance.

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MENDEZ REPORT

The Indian never sees the crucifix or a
simple cross or the image of some saint
displayed anywhere, without going to
kneel before it in reverent devotion, nor
does he ever meet a priest without raising
his hat or hurrying to his side to kiss his
hand. He spends half of his earnings in
devotional offerings which in the end
degenerate into perfect orgies of religious
fervor. And yet, in spite of all that, he
does not feel the slightest scruple to take
as concubines his sisters or even his own
daughters.

He does not profess half as much love
and devotion to God as he shows toward
the images of Saint Anthony of Padua or
to the crucifix, both of which are the
only ornaments he has in his little hut.
He enters a church without bowing to
the Holy Sacrament on the main altar,
but he goes and kneels before the cross or
before Saint Anthony or Saint Francis
of Paula, or to any other image to which
miracles are ascribed, no matter how
poorly executed or how defective such an
image might be. On rising from his

167

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MAYA INDIANS

prostrate position, he bends over to kiss
the altar, to touch its board with his
cheeks or forehead, then touches the
image itself, if such is possible, at least
with a twig of some aromatic herb or a
flower which he carries home as a relic,
paying it the utmost reverence. In addi-
tion to this he offers a certain amount of
money for candles which he lights before
the image of his saint at certain times;
he pays for a determinate number of
11 Salve Reginas" to be sung either in the
church or during street processions for his
sake, and he offers prayers for the souls
of departed relatives.

He believes that the souls of the de-
parted return to earth, and he therefore
marks with chalk the road from the
cemetery to their former abode, that
they may not get lost.

He has just as deep-rooted a belief in
witches and elves, and he is in very great
fear of witchcraft. It is impossible toerad-
icate from his mind the idea that there
are men who especially dedicate them-
selves to inflict this dreadful art on others.

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169

He fears and respects at the same time
an ideal being whom he calls Baldm and
who, so he says, is the lord of the fields.
They all are therefore convinced that
these fields cannot be tilled without
danger even to their lives if they do not
offer him sacrifices before beginning work,
such as horchata de maiz (orgeat), which
they call sacd\ a stew made of corn and
turkey, which they call kool ; the tortilla
with beans, called bulihuah; pitarrilla,
and fumes of copal which they use in-
stead of incense. It may safely be stated,
therefore, that they adore him like God,
but they are always careful that the
white people do not see or notice this
sacrificial offering for fear of being con-
sidered as idolators. t

Alux they call certain apparitions
which they believe to exist in the ancient
ruins and on the hills, and they say that
as soon as it grows dark in the evening
these apparitions or ghosts commence to
walk around the houses, throwing stones,
whistling to the dogs and lashing them
when they get near them, which leaves the

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MAYA INDIANS

poor beasts with a cough that kills them.
They pietend that these ghosts can run
with great speed, as well backward as
forward; that they do not terrify those
who look at them. They are wont to
enter into the houses to annoy and tease
people who are abed in their hammocks,
not letting them sleep. They assure us
that on ranches where sugar-cane is
grown, and just as soon as the grinding
machine for the cane is set up, they will
go and turn it or they will drive on the
horse attached to it, to make it trot
around. They say these apparitions are
of the size of a little Indian boy of four
or five, and that they appear naked,
with only a little hat on their heads.
This belief is the cause of incalculable
loss to antiquarians on account of the
almost daily destruction of articles found
in the ruins. The Indians will destroy
without pity or regard, notwithstanding
they may be offered a good price for them,
all the images in clay and other objects
found on the hills or in subterranean
passages, because they are convinced

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171

that these objects are the ones that be-
come alive at night and come out to walk
around. They attribute to the alux, or
to their influence, all the diseases they
have, as they consider their touch malig-
nant. They say that if these apparitions
find anyone asleep they will pass their
hands over his face so lightly that the
sleeper does not even feel it, but this
causes him a fever which incapacitates
him for a long time.

They also believe in the existence of
the Xtabay, the Huahuapach, and the
Xbolontharoch bokolhahoch. The first of
these apparitions or ghosts may be seen,
according to them, in the most isolated
spots of a village or settlement in the
shape of a woman dressed as a mestizo,
combing her beautiful hair with the fruit
of a plant they call xache xtabay. She
runs away as soon as anyone approaches.
She quickens or retards her flight, either
disappearing or allowing the one who
pursues her to reach her side. This
latter is the case if the one who pursues
her is some amorous fellow who thinks

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MAYA INDIANS

her to be a beautiful maiden. But as soon
as he reaches and embraces her, he finds
that he holds in his arms a bundle filled
with thorns, with legs as thin as those of a
turkey, and this gives him such a terrible
shock that he has fainting spells and high
delirious fevers. The Iluahuapach is a
giant who may be seen at midnight in
certain streets, and he is so tall that an
ordinary man barely reaches to his knees.
He amuses himself by blocking the
traffic, opening his limbs and placing
one foot on either side of the street.
Should anyone inadvertently try to pass
between his feet, he quickly brings his
legs together and so closely presses the
throat of the poor victim that he finally
chokes him. The two other specters or
ghosts confine themselves to repeating
during the night the noises that have been
prevalent in the daytime, and especially
the noise made by the spindle-wheel the
women use. The other one makes a
subterranean noise wrhich sounds like the
chocolate-churner, but both these noises
terrorize those who hear them.

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173

There is no end of superstitions among
the general mass of the Indians, and the
most customary form of fortune-telling
is performed by means of a piece of a
certain crystal which they call zaztun,
which means a clear and transparent
stone, and this enables them to see hidden
things and also to divine the cause of
maladies. Those who arrogate to them-
selves the title of a diviner are freely
consulted, and they receive presents and
live a very easy and carefree life. By
means of their tricks and great cunning
they make the simple and ignorant
Indians believe, when they are ill and go
to consult them, that through the zaztun
they (the sorcerers) have discovered that
some ill-intentioned enemy has bewitched
them, and that in order to discover the
malicious spell, they will have to wake
for three nights with an abundant pro-
vision of pitarrilla, and aguardiente, food,
and lighted candles. Of course, during
these three nights they give themselves
up to high living and immoderate drink-
ing. While the others, their patients if

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MAYA INDIANS

we may so call them, are sleeping, or
off their guard, they bury within the
house or in its immediate vicinity a little
wax figure pierced by a thorn through
that part of the body where the complaint
of their patient lies. When everybody is
awake after the last night of vigil, they
start certain ceremonies with the zaztun,
and finally they go to the spot where they
had buried the figure and take it out
within sight of everyone, making them
believe that that was the witchery.
Then they start their treatment of the
patient with the first and any herbs they
can find, and if by mere chance these
cure the ailment, they have naturally
made for themselves a great reputation
among the ignorant.

They also perform a "healing" in-
cantation by offering certain prayers in
which they mention the diseases and the
different winds to the influence of which
they attribute them. They will repeat
the Lord's prayer over their patient, the
Ave Maria, and the Creed, and sometimes
also the prayer to Saint Anthony which

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175

is included in the Mexican prayer-book.
On other occasions they will resort to the
kex, which means exchange, and consists
in hanging around the house of their
patient certain food and drink for the
Yuncimil, or Lord of Death, and they be-
lieve that by so doing they are able to
save, for the time being, the life of the
patient by barter.

To prevent bees from abandoning the
hives and to make them bring home
ample honey, and also that their owners
may be free from sickness, they will
hang in the beehives chocolate cups with
sacd or horchata of corn.

They also perform the misa milpera
(mass on the cornfield), which they call
tick, which means offering or sacrifice, and
which is celebrated in the following
manner: On a barbecue or roast made
with little sticks of equal length they
place a turkey, and the one who officiates
as priest opens the bird's beak and
pours pitarrilla down its throat. Then
they kill it, and the assistants carry it
off to season it. In the meantime they

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MAYA INDIANS

have been cooking in the earth some large
loaves of corn-bread which they call
canlahuntaz, which is made of fourteen
tortillas or broken bread filled with
beans. When all is well flavored and
cooked, they place it on the barbecue
with several cups rilled with pitarrilla.
Now again the one acting the part of
priest begins to incense it with copal, in-
voking the Holy Trinity; he repeats the
Creed, and, taking some pitarrilla with a
holy-water sprinkler, he flings it to the
four winds, invoking the four Pahahtuves,
lords or custodians of rain. He then
returns to the table, and, raising one of
the jicaras aloft while those surrounding
him kneel, he places the jicara to each
one's mouth for a sip. The feast then
proceeds and terminates by general eat-
ing and drinking, most of all by the one
who "officiated," who furthermore takes
home with him a goodly supply. They
say that the red Pahahtun, who is seated
in the east, is Saint Dominick (Santo
Domingo) ; the white one in the north is
Saint Gabriel; the black one in the west

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177

is Saint James; the yellow Pahahtun, said
to be female and called by them Xanleox,
is seated in the south, and is Mary
Magdalen.

They very readily take their newborn
babies to the baptismal font, and they
never refuse to bury their dead in the
cemetery.

WOMEN

It is quite astounding how in this
climate woman in general passes very
rapidly from childhood into womanhood,
but this development is still more re-
markable in the case of the native Indian
woman, prompted no doubt by their
mode of life and native customs. It is
quite usual to see a little Indian girl of
three trot daily to the woods with her
parents to help cultivate the fields; very
often her excursions extend to neighbor-
ing villages, and she seems to make those
trips of four and even six leagues with
the greatest ease, on foot; and after she
has reached five or six years, she even
carries her little bundle tied on her back.

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They also journey day after day out
into the fields in search of firewood, small
sticks perhaps not thicker than an inch
or a little more, which they call moloch.
They search for the wood themselves;
they cut it and tie it with two reed or
rattan rings, so that they can carry it
on their backs. Then they go for water
in the morning and again in the evening,
having to draw it from wells forty and
sixty yards deep, in buckets made of
tree-bark. After they have reached the
age of eleven or twelve years, they always
present themselves for this particular
errand, as clean as possible. They take
great care to be well-washed and their
hair carefully combed, almost as if they
were going for a pleasure walk or to some
meeting. This is particularly the case on
the ranches and farms, and in almost all
the villages where they have to provide
themselves with water from the com-
munal wells.

Between the ages of six and eleven
years the little Indian maiden attends,
either at the church door or, on big

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179

haciendas, in the main building, to the
teaching of our Christian religion. She
goes there with bare head and with her
hair hanging loose over her shoulders.

All a mother teaches her daughters is
how to cook, grind the corn, and shape
the tortillas; to make atole and pozole;
to wash clothes, — and this very poorly, —
at all events. Or rather the girls learn
all those things by themselves through
mere observation and by helping their
mothers in their daily tasks. Some
mothers, however, will teach them to
spin and weave their rough cotton cloth,
to sew their garments, and sometimes
even to embroider in a very primitive
way.

They are usually accompanied by a
criada, or housemaid, who is a kind of
guardian angel and remains by their side
wherever they go. When they meet the
man they love, they bow their heads and
look down; when speaking of their love,
with the big toe of one foot they will
draw lines on the ground.

While they are within their homes they

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wear only a skirt or petticoat of white
cotton "cloth, which covers them from the
waist down to their knees, and in this
way they will also present themselves to
visitors, unless it is someone absolutely
unknown to them, in which case they
cross their arms over their breasts to hide
them from the stranger. If one meets
them in the fields or lies in wait for their,
over the walls of unmor ared stones,
they hide immediately, apparently to
run away from the presence of a way-
farer, notwithstanding they are all ex-
ceedingly curious, and the love of gossip
is one of their main characteristics.
They are tender-hearted and desirous of
pleasing, but rather in an uncouth
manner, in keeping with what little edu-
cation they have received. Anyone who
asks them something in the name of God
is welcome to their compassion and to
whatever they can afford to give.

Their bodily cleanliness almost borders
on superstition, for they consider a
person who does not wash her body every
day as not quite sane or reasonable. For

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181

their daily bath they heat a stone they
call sintun in the fire, and when it is well
heated they throw it into the water they
have prepared for their bath.

It is very seldom that they are happy
in their love affairs, because it is gener-
ally their parents who choose their
husbands. After the choice is once made,
the parents of the prospective husband
come to ask for the girl's hand, and if
accepted they present an offering of two
pesetas, which is known under the name
of pochat tancab or buhul. One peseta
is for the bride-to-be, the other for her
mother. From the day following this
ceremony the bridegroom-elect has to
furnish daily a fagot of firewood to the
house of his future parents-in-law. On
her wedding day the bride is dressed in a
hipil or loose garment over a petticoat
or skirt, the border of which is adorned
with ribbons of deep purple; while
another wide ribbon of the same shade is
tied around her hair. Her head is cov-
ered with a cloth of white muslin. She
also has to wear shoes, a rosary around

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her neck, earrings and fingerrings with
big cheap stones. All this jewelry may
be borrowed from someone. Once the
religious ceremonies over, they all pro-
ceed to the banquet, at which the newly
married couple and their godfathers
(sponsors) are assigned a prominent place.
If the girl is not to continue living with
her parents, she returns there, neverthe-
less, and remains for eight days, after
which time the godparents come to get
her and turn her over to her husband.

The husband is the recipient of all the
attention and care of his wife. She sews,
she washes,- and she grinds the corn and
makes the tortillas, the pozole, the atole,
and all the rest of his food with her own
hands. She does all the work of her
household; she has to prepare his bath
when he comes home from work in the
evening. These are her daily duties.
In the evening, by the light of the home
fire or in the pale light of a tropical
moon, she sews or mends his clothes and
hers and those of her children. When-
ever the husband leaves home to go on a

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MENDEZ REPORT

journey to some neighboring town or
hacienda, the wife has to follow him;
she is never allowed, however, to walk by
his side, but behind, in his footsteps so to
speak. If this husband gets drunk,
which occurs rather frequently, and he
should fall by the roadside, it is the wife's
duty to remain by his side and take care
of him until he is able to continue on his
way. Neither the scorching sun, nor
heavy rains, nor thunderstorms, nor any
other danger of the road has power
enough to take her away from his side.

Even the fact that a woman has just
been delivered of a child does not serve
as an impediment to her going with the
husband ; she simply carries the new-born
baby with her, either in a piece of cloth
on her back or else mounted on one of
her hips.

If the husband, for one reason or
another, is called before a court of justice,
he appears accompanied by his wife,
simply because it is her duty to go with
him and to act as his defender. She
does this wonderfully well; she speaks

183

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with such warmth and so fluently, with
such courage and enthusiasm, absolutely
free from her usual bashful shyness, that
one cannot help but admire her. And
this absolute devotion on her part to
the service of her consort does not weaken
even with the ill-treatment she receives
at his hands in return, for whenever he
is intoxicated he treats her to a liberal
whipping — he beats her with his bare
hands even, or with a stick.

Under such circumstances marital fidel-
ity on the part of the women is not,
nor can it be, very deep-rooted, and
frequently her seducers triumph over her
virtue. However, if the husband sur-
prises them and the woman succeeds in
escaping him, he denounces her to the
next court of justice and demands that
she be given a certain number of blows.
She invariably receives them quite re-
signedly, and after the ordeal returns
peacefully to her domestic duties. If the
woman is the offended one, she also goes
before the judge and demands that her
rival be treated to the same punishment.

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185

Any sickness that might befall them after
this misadventure, they unfailingly attri-
bute to witchcraft instigated by their
offenders. Witchcraft enjoys such wide
popularity among Indian women that
there is hardly one among them who
cannot relate one and even many cases
of the black art in her family. To their
minds superstition and credulity go hand
in hand, and if one tells them of some
strange occurrence ascribed to enchant-
ment, they believe it as readily and as
firmly as if it had happened to them-
selves or as if they had witnessed it.
And if one immediately afterward asks
them whether it is day or night, they
will answer doubtfully, even after having
looked at the sun — so wrapped up in the
tale have they become.

They are very fond of dancing and of
music, but they do not perform the
former either gracefully or freely, nor
have they any variety or art in its exe-
cution. They have no talent or gift for
playing an instrument either. They are
wont to sing in their idle moments or

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MAYA INDIANS

even while at work, but sadly and in a
monotone.

The woman who finds herself pregnant
works until the very last moment before
the child is born, and resumes her tasks
immediately afterward, as soon as the
baby is attended to. They leave their
children so much to themselves, and give
them so little care, that they are forever
creeping around on the floor in all the
mire and dirt, and always completely
naked. A diaper and a tiny hipil are all
they get for the first few days of their
life. Around wrists and ankles they
occasionally will tie tiny cords made of
blue cotton to protect them, so they say,
from epilepsy. Those who can afford to
do so will hang a little rosary of beads
interspersed with wooden honey-berries
around their necks and put tiny earrings
in their ears.

A pregnant Indian woman will not go
outdoors during an eclipse, in order to
avoid her child being born with spots or
ugly birthmarks on its body; nor do they
visit women who have just given birth to

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187

a child, because it is their belief that the
babies would become ill with pains in
their bowels.

As soon as the child is six months old
they name a godfather and a godmother
for the ceremony of opening the baby's
limbs for the first time. To this end
they set a table with some kind of
pottage, and the godfather makes nine
rounds of the table, with the baby placed
astride one of his hips, which is the way
in which it will be carried thereafter by its
mother. Then they place in the child's
hands, if it is a girl, a needle, a spindle,
and the implements with which they
weave their cloth; if it is a boy, he is
given a hatchet, a machete, and other
implements he is expected to use when
grown up. These godparents enjoy the
same distinction as those at the christ-
ening.

The women do not care about knowing
their own age, and they keep track of the
age of their children only until they have
attained about six or eight years; after
that they forget it. Although they grow

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into young manhood or womanhood very
quickly, really old age comes late, except
in the appearance of the women, who at
the age of thirty-five look like women of
forty-five.

Their most common diseases are pleu-
risy, intermittent fevers, and jaundice,
while fits, fainting spells, and hysterics
are exceedingly rare.

As a rule the women are abstemious,
economical, and very hospitable. They
love work, and are fond of raising
chickens and turkeys, which they sell in
order to enable them to buy what they
most need, or else they prepare such fowl
for banquets, marriages, christenings, the
day of All Souls, or for the novenas which
they celebrate for the Holy Cross or the
saint of their special devotion. They do
not fancy all manner of necessities, nor
do they pretend to live on the work of
their husbands; rather they work con-
stantly in order to dominate them, and in
this they succeed generally, at least to a
certain degree. They will upbraid them
if they undertake anything without

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189

asking their advice. They do not forget
offenses they may have received until
they are avenged. In their old age they
are liable to commit ^small insignificant
thefts, and they especially seem to like
to become mendicants, even though they
do not need to be. They seem to do
this as a kind of compensation for what
in their earlier days they may have given
to the poor.

Sentiments of gratitude do not last
long. However, we must in this case
always except those who were reared in
the homes of white people. With few
exceptions (when perhaps poor methods
or little care in their education, or per-
chance bad example and ill-treatment
dominated), these Indian girls are virtu-
ous, assiduous, disinterested, and very
well-disposed toward all the different
branches of service and ready to learn
whatever they are taught. They are
modest, and are fond of dressing them-
selves nicely and decently. They are so
affectionate, true, and grateful, that
many a time they grow old in the service

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MAYA INDIANS

of one family, and if this family meets
with misfortune and perhaps becomes
impoverished, they will go to work out-
side to help support them, of which I
could mention many cases. Just the
opposite happens with the men, who, al-
though they were educated in a white
family from early childhood, and many a
time with the same care as the white
children, the cases are rare that they do
not gradually drift apart, become es-
tranged, give themselves up to vice, and
finally forget their benefactors entirely.

DRESS

The ordinary costume of the men con-
sists of a shirt of white cotton like ours,
worn outside the white drawers of the
same material, which are wide and reach
to the calf of the leg; a belt, white or in
colors, is worn around the waist under
the shirt; a kerchief; a straw hat, and
sandals consisting of only soles which are
adjusted to the foot by cords of agave
fiber, complete his costume. While at
work in the field they take all their

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191

clothes off and wear only a loin-cloth,
which they call huit, consisting of a piece
of cotton cloth fastened around the hips,
the points passing between the thighs to
be fastened to the belt below the navel.
From this belt hangs the sheathed
machete on the left side.

When they go out, the Indian women
wear on their heads either a piece of
cotton cloth of about half a yard in
width by two and a half yards in length,
the ends of which hang down the back,
or else they tie a red kerchief around the
head, a very bright red being their favor-
ite color. A hipil of cotton is fashioned
like a wide sacque-coat, with an opening
in the center to put the head through,
fitting around the neck, having openings
on the two sides for the arms. This hipil
reaches to about the calf of the leg,
falling on a skirt or petticoat, also of
white cotton, three or four fingers longer.
It is fastened around the waist under the
hipil, which falls loosely over it. The
hem of both the skirt and the hipil are
very often roughly embroidered in blue

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MAYA INDIANS

or red thread. For traveling they wear
sandals like the men.

LANGUAGE

The Indians of Yucatan speak the
Maya language, though somewhat adul-
terated through contact with Spanish.
Several Spanish expressions have gradu-
ally crept into their idiom, especially in
cities and principal towns where the
Indians are in almost constant intercourse
with whites and mestizos. Many among
them can speak Spanish perfectly well,
but as a rule they avoid it, and will
answer in Maya to those who speak
Spanish to them.

STATURE, PHYSIOGNOMY, COLOR

Generally speaking, the Indians of
Yucatan are of about the same stature as
all intertropical races, of a round face,
straight black hair, rather coarse, not
very pronounced eyebrows, very little
beard or none at all, a low narrow fore-
head, black and expressive eyes, a some-
what flat nose, small but outstanding

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193

ears, protruding cheekbones, a regular
mouth with thin lips and beautiful teeth,
a stout neck, broad chest and shoulders,
arms, thighs, and limbs of robust and
muscular build. Their hands and feet are
small, and the toes of their feet stand
closer together than the heels. They have
no hair on their bodies except on the head.
Their color is a copper-brown, darkened
through constant exposure to the sun,
especially as they go about almost totally
naked. The color of the women is
therefore much lighter, and this is also
the case with such men as have been
reared from childhood in homes of the
white people. Among the women there
are some very pretty ones, slender in form,
with an airy but graceful carriage, and
a very sweet voice* but the hard work
to which they are subjected from early
childhood causes them to lose their
beauty at an early age. There are also
some truly fine types among the men.

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SAVAGE TRIBES

Of real savage tribes there are none in
Yucatan. After the greater part of the
peninsula, cities as well as villages, had
been reconquered from the possession of
the Indians who had taken them during
their insurrection in 1847, which was
general, the most tenacious and unruly
ones among them settled in the eastern
part of the peninsula, where they have
built several towns, the principal one
being Chan-Santacruz. From these fast-
nessess they frequently sally forth to
attack and even to raze our absolutely
defenseless villages. These attacks cause
frightful suffering not only to members of
other tribes and races, without regard to
sex or age, but they are at times even
greater among those of their own race,
who at one time or another have either
absolutely refused to join their ranks, or,
after following their lead for some time,
have deserted, and returned to live in
peace among the white people.

Another and by far the most numerous

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195

band of those rebellious Indians went to
settle in the south of the peninsula, and
by virtue of the treaty they celebrated
with General Vega have given up all
hostilities, although they remain in com-
plete independence of national as well as
of state authorities, and in peaceful
business intercourse with this city (Mer-
ida), and also with Campeche and other
points in close proximity to their abodes.
Colonel Juan Sanchez Navarro drew a
map, which he presented, together with
his report, before the government of
Yucatan on April 12 of the present year,
on which map he gives an approximate
idea of the localities on the peninsula
still occupied by rebellious Indians who
maintain a hostile attitude and those
who have agreed to peaceful intercourse.
The first mentioned he calls the eastern
group, and the last named the southern

one-

Santiago Mendez.

Merida, October 24th, 1861.

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MAYA INDIANS

Note by Antonio Garcia y Cubas

After having written about several
groups of aborigines who inhabit the
central part of the republic, I wish to
extend these notes with the aid of docu-
ments in my possession to the Indians of
Tabasco and Chiapas.

The customs, habits, and inclinations
of all those Indians in general do not,
with any certainty, evoke any hope for
the improvement of their race and their
subsequent utility and usefulness to the
nation. The task I have set for myself
is a very delicate one, and there may
exist a great many people who will attri-
bute to lack of patriotism the frank state-
ment of many defects in our population;
but I observe that our nation is not mov-
ing toward its aggrandizement with the
alacrity and speed which the progressives
among the authorities wish to see.
Therefore I consider it necessary to study
and point out the defects. I do not
wish it to appear as if the conceptions
expressed in these lines were imputations

INDIAN NOTES

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197

of my own imagination, and I wish to
state, therefore, that whatever is said in
this report is extracted from official
documents in my possession.

The aborigines living in the towns and
villages of the district of Jalpa, and the
same may be said of the rest of the
Indians of Tabasco, despite their docility,
prefer the wild, uncivilized life of the
mountains to the advantages of com-
munal life, if by so doing they are able to
evade all public responsibilities and du-
ties. They come together only for their
religious festivities, and on all such
occasions they are given to drunkenness
and gluttony to such a degree that they
contract very serious diseases which in a
great many cases hasten their demise.
With very few exceptions they live in
complete vagrancy, and they propagate
without respecting any degree of blood
relationship. They insist on curing their
diseases with all sorts of roots and
plants, which, however, mostly impair
their health, causing great mortality,
especially among children. This may be

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MAYA INDIANS

regarded as the principal cause why very
few among their number reach the age
of fifty years.

The aborigines who inhabit the borders
to the river Usumacinta and its tribu-
taries are for the greater part natives of
Yucatan, and are like all the rest of their
kind, very fond of drinking. The Indians
of Tenosique, about forty years ago,
were known as very honest and trust-
worthy, but their intercourse with the
rebels and emigrants from Yucatan have
demoralized them to a great extent.

These and other defects, with but a
few honorable exceptions, are revealed
in the documents treating of the Indians
of the district of Comitan, state of
Chiapas, which, however, I am not going
to enumerate, so as to avoid repetitions,
and by so doing make this article alto-
gether too long.

All the above mentioned shows the
decadence and general degeneration of
the aborigines, as compared with the
very scant elements of vitality and vigor
that might help in the movement toward

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199

progress in our republic. The same
customs, the same reserve and diffidence
which characterized the Indian of colonial
days is manifestly still his today under
the so-called protective laws of the re-
public, which barely give him the title
of citizen. Yet, as I have stated before,
I do not belong to those who despair of
his ultimate civilization, and I believe
that the most efficacious means of
effecting this is by crossing his breed or
race by way of colonization, introducing
other nations and elements to come in
contact with him.

That this efficacious means of stopping
the infinite defects which retard, if they
do not hinder, the natural progress of our
nation, has not been attained, to my idea,
lies in the fact that so far no protective
laws have existed which, founded on pre-
vision, afford guaranties and procure
work for colonists. There are no laws
that fix the boundaries of the immense
stretches of waste-land within our coun-
try, nor a careful study of climate, ge-
ology, and production. There is not, to

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MAYA INDIANS

my knowledge, any report establishing
the best methods of making all our terri-
tory productive either through sales or
the renting of all lands that cannot be
tilled by their original owners. Our own
elements, as we have tried to demon-
strate in this article, are either hetero-
geneous or too scarce and insufficient to
accomplish the task of carrying the
nation onward on the road of aggrandize-
ment. Hence it is, according to my
idea, colonization, and colonization alone,
that may serve as the final remedy for
our national ills.

If we had today laws such as I have
had reference to, we would at this very
moment see European colonists arrive
continually, attracted by hopes of a
splendid future which our fertile soil and
our salubrious climate offer to the indus-
trious and enterprising man. Our popu-
lation would increase daily at the same
pace with the United States of Brazil and
Buenos Aires, where European immi-
gration forms an element of prosperity.

It remains for our government to fix in

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201

the most decisive way the answer to this
question in the interest of the future of
our country.

Antonio Garcia y Cubas.
Mexico, May 1st, 1870.

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NOTES ON THE SUPERSTI-
TIONS OF THE INDIANS
OF YUCATAN

Informe contra Idolorvm Cvltores

DEL OBISPADO DE YvCATAN.

Madrid, 1639

By Pedro Sanchez de Aguilar

HE abuses and superstitions in
which those Indians of Yuca-
tan believe and the abuses
which they cherish are mostly
inherited from their forebears, and are as
numerous as they are varied in kind.
I am including in this report all I was
able to investigate, so that they may
enable the curates to disapprove them
publicly, and in their sermons to repri-
mand the Indians on account of them.

They believe in dreams which they try
to interpret to suit the occasion.

INDIAN NOTES

SANCHEZ DE AGUILAR

On hearing the cawing (or cackle) of a
bird they call kipxosi, they interpret it
to mean poor success to whatever enter-
prise they are engaged in at the time.
They consider it as a bad omen or fore-
boding, as the Spaniards do with the
female fox or the cuckoo.

If, while the Indian is traveling, he
stumbles over a big stone among a pile
which had been dug up to build or level a
road, he venerates it by placing on the
top of it a little twig, brushing his knees
with another one in order not to get tired.
This is a tradition of his forefathers.

If he happens to be traveling near sun-
set, and he fears that he will arrive late
or even at night at the village he is
bound for, he will drive a stone into the
first tree he finds, believing that this will
retard the setting of the sun. Another
superstition to the same effect is the
pulling out of some of his eyelashes and
blowing them toward the sun. These are
superstitions that came down to him by
tradition from his forebears.

During lunar eclipses they still believe

203

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MAYA INDIANS

in the tradition of their forefathers to
make their dogs howl or cry by pinching
them either in the body or ears, or else
they will beat on boards, benches, and
doors. They say that the moon is dying,
or that it is being bitten by a certain
kind of ant which they call xubab. Once,
while at the village of Yalcoba, I heard
great noises during an eclipse of the
moon which occurred that night, and in
my sermon the next day I tried to make
them understand the cause of the eclipse
in their own language, according to the
interpretation from the Philosopher:
"The lunar eclipse is the interposing of
the earth between the sun and the moon
with the sun on top and the moon in the
shadow." With an orange to represent
the sphere of Sacrobosco, and two lit
candles on either side, I explained to
them plainly and at sight what an eclipse
really was. They seemed astonished, and
quite happy and smiling, cured of their
ignorance and that of their forefathers.
I gave orders to their chieftain (cacique)
that he should punish in the future all

INDIAN NOT.ES

SANCHEZ DE AGUILAR

205

those who made a noise on such occasions.

They also call certain old Indian
shamans when a woman is in labor, and,
with words of their former idolatry, he
will enchant her and hear her confession.
They do the same with some other
patients. I could not find out all about
this, for which I am very sorry.

There are some Indian medicine-men
who, with similar enchantment, are sup-
posed to cure the bites or stings of snakes,
especially of the rattlesnakes, of which
there are a great many here. The victims
of such bites are sometimes delirious, and
often the flesh around the wound will
decay until they die. The remedy the
wizards give them, according to what I
heard, is to make them eat human excre-
ment or drink the juice of lemons, or
else they will take a domestic fowl and
place its beak on the wound, and have it
suck in this way the poison of the snake-
bite. The hen or chicken will of course
die, and they immediately replace it by
another live one, and repeat that until all
the poison is absorbed.

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MAYA INDIANS

When they build new houses, which
occurs every ten or twelve years, they
will not inhabit nor even enter them
unless the old wizard has been brought
even from a distance of one, two, or three
leagues to bless it or consecrate it with
his stupid enchantment. This, however,
I have only heard, and I am now sorry
never to have recorded it personally.

They are fortune-tellers, and they per-
form this feat with a heap of grained corn,
counting always two and two grains, and
if it comes out in even numbers, the
fortune-teller will continue counting one,
two, or three times over until it comes out
uneven, bearing all the while in mind the
main facts or reason for which he had
been called on to tell the fortune, vera
gratia. Once a girl ran away from home,
and her mother, like any true Indian
woman would have done in a similar case,
immediately called one of those fortune-
tellers, who drew lots on all the different
roads until the fortune told of or pointed
to a certain road the girl had taken and
where she would be found. They sent

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207

out to look for her and found her in the
village to which that road led. I pun-
ished that wizard, who was a native of a
village at one league from Valladolid,
and while I examined him with patience
and slowly, I found that all the words he
used in that so-called fortune-telling,
while he counted the grains of corn, were
no more than "Odd or even, odd or
even" (huylan nones, caylan pares). He
could not even tell me whether those
words were meant as an invocation to
Satan. In fact, he seemed not to know
what they meant, for this particular
wizard was a very great simpleton, al-
most imbecile.

In this city of Merida it is publicly
known that there exist several Indian
sorceresses (witches), who by using
certain words can open a rosebud before
it is time for its opening, which is given
to the one they wish to attract to their
lascivious desire. They let him smell of
it, or they place it under his pillow;
but should the person who gives it to
him smell its perfume, she is said invari-

AND MONOGRAPHS

208

MAYA INDIANS

ably to lose her mind for a long while,
calling to the one she expected to inhale
it, and in whose name the rose was
opened by the witch — a worthy matter
which serves as medicine as well as
punishment, especially if it hits the double
mark. It has also been assured that the
Indian women of this city are wont to
throw a certain enchantment into the
chocolate which is ready for their hus-
bands to drink, and by it they become
bewildered. This I only heard however,
and I could not vouchsafe its truth.

I will also note here what I saw as a
child, and that is that they used to drown
in a hole young puppies of a breed of
dogs they raise as pets as well as for food.
These are a kind of dogs, with but little
or no hair at all, which they call tzomes.14
It is an old Jewish dogma of cosher. See
the Apostle, ut abstineant se a suffocatis,
etc. — that they abstain from the food of
animals dying by smothering or any kind
of natural death.

INDIAN NOTES

OF THE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

OF THE INDIANS OF

YUCATAN IN 1545

Report of Francisco Hernandez

HEN our people discovered the
kingdom of Yucatan they
found crosses there, and one
cross in particular which was
made of stone and mortar, of a height of
ten palms, and was erected in the center
of a court or enclosure, very prominent
and fair, and crowned with battlements;
it stands alongside of a sumptuous temple
and is very much frequented by a great
number of people. This is on the island
of Cozumel, which lies near the mainland
of Yucatan. It is said that this cross
was really adored as the God of Water or
Rain; as often as there was a drought they
went to sacrifice quail before it, as will be
told later. When asked whence or

209

AND MONOGRAPHS

210

MAYA INDIANS

through whom they had first heard of
that sign, they replied that a very hand-
some man had once passed through their
country and that he left it with them,
that they might always remember him
by it. Others, it is said, answered that
it was because a man more resplendent
than the sun had died on that cross.
This is referred to by Peter Martyr in
chapter i of his Fourth Decade.

I shall refer to another tale or report
which is very unusual and new regarding
the Indies, and which until now has not
been found in any other part of them.
As this kingdom, on account of its close
proximity to it, comes within the juris-
diction of my bishopric of Chiapa, on
one of my visits I disembarked and re-
mained at a very healthy port. I met
there a clergyman, good, so it seemed,
of mature age and honest, and [one] who
knew the language of the natives from
having lived there several years. As it
was necessary for me to return to my
episcopal residence, I nominated him
as my vicar, and ordered and entreated

INDIAN NOTES

FRANCISCO HERNANDEZ

211

him to travel inland and visit the Indians
there and preach to them in a certain
way in which I instructed him. After a
certain number of months (I even believe
it was one year), he wrote to me that on
his trip he had met a principal lord or
chief, and that on inquiring of him con-
cerning his faith and the ancient belief
all over his realm, he answered him that
they knew and believed in God who was
in heaven; that that God was the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
That the Father is called by them Igona,lb
and that he had created man and all
things. The Son's name was Bacab,16
who was born from a maiden who had
ever remained a virgin, whose name was
Chibirias,17 and who is in heaven with
God. The Holy Ghost they called
Echuac.ls They say that Iqona means
the great Father. Bacab, who is the
son, they say killed Eopuco™ and
flagellated him, crowning him with a
crown of thorns, and placed him with
arms extended on a pole, not meaning
that he should be nailed to it, but tied

AND MONOGRAPHS

212

MAYA INDIANS

(and in order to show him how, the
chief extended his own arms), where he
finally died. He was dead for three
days, but on the third day he returned to
life and went up to heaven, and he is
there with his Father. After this im-
mediately came Echuac, which is the
Holy Ghost, and he filled the earth with
all it needs. When asked what Bacab
or Bacabab meant, he said it meant the
son of the great Father, and that Echuac
meant merchant. And very good mer-
chandise did the Holy Ghost bring to
this earth, for he filled men with all their
faculties, and divine and abundant graces.
Chibirias means mother of the Son of
the great Father. He added, further-
more, that at a certain time all men would
have to die, but he did not seem to know
anything of the resurrection of the flesh.
When asked how they came to know all
these things, the chief replied that the
lords taught their sons, and in this
manner it descended from one age to
another. They also assert that in olden
times, long ago, there came to the land

INDIAN NOTES

FRANCISCO HERNANDEZ

213

twenty men (he gave the names of fifteen
of them), but because they were very
poorly written, and furthermore as they
do not have great importance for this
report, I do not copy them. Of the five
others the vicar says he could not obtain
their names. The principal one was
called Cocolcan,20 and they called this
one the God of all kinds of fevers. Two
of the others are the Gods of fish, still
another two the Gods of farms and
homesteads [landed properties], still an-
other was the God of Lightning, etc.
They all wore long gowns or mantles,
and sandals for their feet. They had
long beards, and wore nothing to cover
their heads. These men ordained that
the people should go to confession and
should fast, and some people fasted on
Fridays because on that day Bacab had
died. The name of this day (Friday) is
HimiSj21 and they honor it in their devo-
tion on account of the death of Bacab.
The chiefs (caciques) know all the par-
ticulars of those things, but the common
people believe only in the three persons,

AND MONOGRAPHS

214

MAYA INDIANS

Iqona and Bacab and Echuac, and in
Chibirias, the mother of Bacab, and also
[in] the mother of Chibirias called Hisch-
en22 whom we consider to have been
Saint Ann. All this above stated is from
information I have received in a letter
from that reverend father whose name
is Francisco Hernandez, and I still have
his letter among my papers. He also
stated that he took the said chief to a
Franciscan friar who lived near there,
and that the cacique repeated all he said
before the friar, and they remained both
greatly surprised at it. If all those things
just stated are true, it would seem that
that part of the land had been (long ago)
informed about our Holy Faith, for in
no other part of the Indies have we ever
found such news. It is true that in
Brazil, which belongs to the Portuguese,
it was stated that traces of the wanderings
of Saint Thomas the Apostle had been
discovered, but such news could not very
well fly over through the air, and further-
more it is quite certain that the country
and kingdom of Yucatan give us more

INDIAN NOTES

FRANCISCO HERNANDEZ

215

special and singular cases to ponder over,
and of far greater antiquity, if we think
of the great, exquisite, and admirable
way the most ancient buildings are con-
structed, also of a certain lettering in
queer characters which are not found
anywhere else. Finally these are the
secrets which only God knows.

AND MONOGRAPHS

216

MAYA INDIANS

GLOSSARY

Alux, h'lox, or more fully h'loxkatob.
According to Brinton the meaning is
"the strong clay images." He writes
in his paper, The Folk-lore of Yucatan,
that "the derivation of this word is
from hat, which, in the Diccionario
Maya-Espanol del Convento de Motul
(MS. of about 1580), is defined as 'la
tierra y barro de las olleras,' but which
Perez in his modern Maya dictionary
translates 'ollas 6 figuras de barro';
ob is the plural termination; lox is
strong, or the strength of anything;
h' or ah, as it is often written, is the
rough breathing which in Maya indi-
cates the masculine gender."

Atole. Nahuan atolli, or atlaolli. Corn-
meal gruel.

Baldm. Tiger or mountain-lion. The
word was applied also to a class of
priests and to kings as a title of dis-
tinction.

INDIAN NOTES

GLOSSARY

217

Balche. A fermented liquor made from

wild honey and the bark of a tree.
Buhul, buuhul. A section of a stick of

wood split lengthwise in the middle.
Bulihuah. Tortillas made of corn-meal

and beans. From but or buul, beans;

uah, tortilla.
Cagique. Antillean word meaning a lord

or chief.
Camote. Nahuan camotl, a kind of sweet-
potato.
Canlahuntaz. Large loaves of native

bread. From canlahun, fourteen; taz,

tiers, or layers.
Comal. Nahuari comalli, clay griddle.
Hipil. Nahuan huipilli, a woman's

chemise.
Huahuapach, ua ua pack. According to

Brinton (op. cit.) it means giant crab.
Huitj uith. Loin-cloth.
Jicara. Nahuan xicalli, corrupted into

jicara, a calabash.
Kex. To barter or change; also used

as a name for ex votos placed on altars.
Kipxosi, kipchoh, cipchoh. " A diviner

bird among the Indians."

AND MONOGRAPHS

218

MAYA INDIANS

Kool. A dish prepared by cooking com
with chicken.

Mecapal. Nahuan mecapalli, leathern
band used over the forehead for carry-
ing burdens.

Mecate. Nahuan mecatl, rope or cord
made of maguey fiber.

Metate. Nahuan metatl, a stone on which
corn is ground.

Milpa. Nahuan milli, cultivated land;
pan, a postposition.

Mitote. Nahuan mitotli, a dance.

Moloch. Brush-wood or kindling.
\Pahatun, pah ah tun. The four pa ah
tunes, the lords of rains, are, according
to Brinton, " identical with the winds,
and the four cardinal points from which
they blow. . . . The name pahatun is
of difficult derivation, but it probably
means ' stone, or pillar, set up or
erected.' '

Pib. An underground oven.

Pochat tancab. According to the author
of this report the phrase has the same
signification as buhul: the offering made
to a girl by a prospective bridegroom.

INDIAN NOTES

GLOSSARY

219

The words seem to be: poc, to wash or
rub; hat, numerical termination serving
to count split-wood; tancab, outside the
house, or in the patio.

Pozole. Nahuan pozolatl, or pocol atl, a
drink of cooked corn.

Sacd, zacd. Orgeat of corn; from za,
corn gruel; cd, or caa, duplicative
particle.

Sintun, zintun. A heated stone for heating
water for bathing purposes. From zin,
to haul, girdle or encircle; tun, stone.

Taukul, tunkul. A wooden drum.

Tick. A mass celebrated in planted
fields. See Brinton, op. cit.

Xache xtabay. According to the author,
the name of a plant. The first word,
xache, is evidently xach or xachah, to
comb. Xtabay may be x-, a prefix,
indicating feminine gender; tabal, to
deceive.

Xanleox, x'kanleox. From x-, prefix de-
noting feminine gender; kan, yellow;
lox, to strike with the closed fist.
Brinton simply gives "yellow goddess"
as the equivalent.

AND MONOGRAPHS

220

MAYA INDIANS

Xbolonthahroch bokolhahoch, X bolon thor-
och bokol (or bookol) Kotoch. From x-,
prefix denoting feminine gender; bolon,
nine; thoroch, sound of a spindle re-
volving in its shaft. Brinton says,
"The name therefore signifies 'the
female imp who magnifies the sound of
the spindle.'" Bokol or bookol, to stir;
h or ah, to indicate the rough breathing
which in Maya denotes the masculine
gender.

Xhantumbu, xkantumbub, or xkantun bub.
A small plant used for medicinal
purposes.

Xtabay. See etymology under xache
xtabay.

Xulab. Spelled by Sanchez de Aguilar
xubab. An ant which attacks bee-
hives.

Yuncimil, Yumcimil. The God of Death ;
from yum, universal father or lord;
cimil, death.

Zaztun. A quartz crystal; from zaz,
clear; tun, stone.

INDIAN NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

221

BIBLIOGRAPHY
1845

Baeza, Bartolome Jose Granado. Los Indios
de Yucatan. Informe dado por el cura de
Yaxcaba D. Bartolome del Granado Baeza, en
contestacion al interrogatorio de 36 preguntas,
circulado por el ministerio de Ultramar sobre
el manejo, vida y costumbres de los Indios, que
acompario el Illmo. Sr. obispo a la deputacion
provincial. Registro Yucateco, Merida, tomo 1,
pp. 165-178.

This account was written in Yaxcaba, April 1, 1813.
It is one of the principal sources of information used
by Brinton in his paper, The Folk-lore of Yucatan.

G. C. El Indio Yucateco, caracter, costumbres
y condicion de los Indios de Yucatan. Registro
Yucateco, Merida, tomo 1, pp. 291-297.
This report is dated Mexico, December 30, 1843.

1846

Carrillo, Estanislao. Papeles sueltos de P.
Carrillo. Fantasmas. Registro Yucateco, tomo
iv, pp. 103-106.

The material in this article was used by Brinton in
his paper, op. cit.
Hernandez, Juan Jose. Costumbres de las
Indias de Yucatan. Registro Yucateco, Merida,
tomo in, pp. 290, 298.

This report is dated Merida, April 24, 1846.

AND MONOGRAPHS

222

MAYA INDIANS

1865

Carrillo, Crescencio. Estudio historico,sobre
la raza indigena de Yucatan. Vera Cruz, 1865,

26 pp.

1882

Bancroft, Hubert Howe. The native races of
the Pacific states. 5 volumes, San Francisco.
In the several volumes of this work Bancroft has
assembled most of the early accounts of the manners
and customs of the Maya of Yucatan. He was
unaware of the existence of the report by Mendez
which forms the basis of our publication.

1883
Brinton, Daniel G. The Folk-lore of Yucatan.
Folk-Lore Journal, London, vol. 1, part viii,
pp. 1-13.

This study is based largely on the report of Baeza,
with additions from the article of Estanislao Carrillo,
and manuscript notes of several other persons, no-
tably those of Carl Hermann Berendt.
Carrillo y Ancona, Crescencio. Historia de
Welinna. Leyenda Yucateca. Segunda edi-
cion,Merida, 52 pp.

The first edition was printed in 1862.

1895
Brinton, Daniel G. A Primer of Mayan
hieroglyphs. Publications of the University of
Pennsylvania, Series in Philology, Literature
and Archaeology, vol. Ill, no. 2.

INDIAN NOTES

NOTES

223

1905

Rejon Garcia, Manuel. Supersticiones y
leyendas Mayas. Merida, 1905.

NOTES

1. For the meaning of this and of other Indian
words, consult the glossary.

2. Fotuto is a musical instrument used by the
Carib Indians and also by the negroes of the
Antilles.

3. Luneros are Monday- workers.

4. Fagina—faena, manual labor.

5. Milpa roza is, literally, field cleared of
underbrush and ready for planting.

6. Milpa carta, literally cane field.

7. An almud is a dry measure equivalent to
twelve English bushels. There seems to be an
error in the quantity here.

8. The author here seems to have confused the
meaning of the word tnitote (see glossary). In
Yucatan the instrument he describes is called
tunkul.

9. The machete is the large knife which the
Indian men of Yucatan invariably carry with
them.

10. The arroba is the Spanish measure of
twenty-five pounds.

11. We have been unable to find the meaning
of the word guero.

12. Calabaza is the Spanish for pumpkin;

AND MONOGRAPHS

224

MAYA INDIANS

but the Mexican pumpkin is different from that
raised in our latitudes.

13. Jicama seems to be a local word not in the
dictionary.

14. Tzomes, according to Sanchez de Aguilar, is
the name applied to hairless dogs. The common
appellation is kukbil, or kikbil. Tzom in Maya
means a horn, also a proboscis. The word
tzomes is close to tzimin, pi. tzimines, the name
of the tapir, which has an elongate snout. Alonzo
Ponce who was in Yucatan in 1588, speaks of
tapirs being called by the natives tzimines, and
further states that they call horses by the same
name, a definition to be found in the Maya
dictionary of Pio Perez.

15. The names to which we call attention in
notes 15 to 22 represent, with a single exception,
in misspelled form, well-known Mayan deities.
It is interesting to note the early influence of the
Spaniards on the religious beliefs of the Maya, as
evidenced by the interpretation given to Father
Hernandez by the old cacique. There is a
curious mixture of old and new in the account.
Dr Seler has identified the various deities spoken
of, and a description of their attributes will be
found in Brinton's Primer of Mayan Hieroglyphs.
Icona is Itzamna, chief of the beneficent gods, the
personification of the East. According to Brinton
the name means "the dew or moisture of the
morning." Brinton writes, "He was said to have
been the creator of men, animals, and plants,

INDIAN NOTES

NOTES

225

and was the founder of the culture of the Mayas.
He was the first priest of their religion, and in-
vented writing and books."

16. According to Brinton the Bacabs, or Chacs,
were the offspring of Itzamna and his consort
Ix-Chel (spoken of by the cagique as Hischen).

17. Chibirias is identified by Seler as Ix-chebel-
yax, who, according to Brinton, was "the in-
ventress of painting and of colored designs on
woven stuffs."

18. Echuac is Ek Chua, said by Landa to be
the god of the cacao planters, hence, as cacao-
beans were the medium of exchange, the god of
merchants, as here related. It is difficult to
understand the confusion by which this god has
been interwoven in Christian beliefs as the Holy
Ghost.

19. Eopuco has been interpreted by Seler as
Ah uoh puc, or Ah-puch, the God of Death, or
God of Evil. Brinton believes that "these words
mean the Undoer, or Spoiler, apparently a
euphemism to avoid pronouncing a name of evil
omen." In modern Maya he is plain Yum cimil,
lord of death.

20. Cocolcan is Cuculcan, or Kukulcan, the
same as the Nahuan Quetzalcoatl. Kukulcan was
the feathered or winged serpent god, a deity of
culture and kindliness.

21. Himis is I mix, the name of the first day of
the twenty-day month of the Maya calendar.

22. Hischen is Ix-Chel, the consort of Itzamna.

AND MONOGRAPHS

226

MAYA INDIANS

Brinton states that the word means "rainbow,"
and that the goddess was also known as Ix Kan
Leom, "the spider-web" which catches the dew
of the morning. Her children, according to
Brinton, the Bacabs or Chacs were "four mighty
brethren, who were the gods of the four cardinal
points, of the winds which blow from them, of
the rains these bring, of the thunder and the
lightning, and consequently of agriculture, the
harvests, and food supply. Their position in the
ritual was of the first importance. To each were
assigned a particular color and a certain year
and day in the calendar."

INDIAN NOTES

INDIAN NOTES
AND MONOGRAPHS

VOL.X

No. 1

A SERIES OF PUBLICA-
TIONS RELATING TO THE
AMERICAN ABORIGINES

A STONE EFFIGY PIPE FROM
KENTUCKY

GEORGE H. PEPPER

NEW YORK

MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN
HEYE FOUNDATION

1920

ftttfato

Arts

»Q<3

<*»ft»

*™

Publications of the Museum of the
American Indian, Heye Foundation

THE GEORGE G. HEYE EXPEDITION
CONTRIBUTIONS TO SOUTH AMER-
ICAN ARCHAEOLOGY
Vol. 1

The Antiquities of Manabi, Ecuador: A Pre-
liminary Report. By Marshall H. Saville.
1907. $25.00.

Vol. 2

The Antiquities of Manabi, Ecuador: Final
Report. By Marshall H. Saville. 1910.
$25.00.

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM

OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN,

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No. 1: Lucayan Artifacts from the Bahamas.
By Theodoor de Booy . Reprinted from Amer .
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No. 2 : Precolumbian Decoration of the Teeth
in Ecuador, with some Account of the Oc-
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INDIAN NOTES
AND MONOGRAPHS

VOL. X

No. 1

A SERIES OF PUBLICA-
TIONS RELATING TO THE
AMERICAN ABORIGINES

A STONE EFFIGY PIPE FROM
KENTUCKY

GEORGE H. PEPPER

NEW YORK

MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN

HEYE FOUNDATION

1920

This series of Indian Notes and Mono-
graphs is devoted primarily to the publica-
tion of the results of studies by members of
the staff of the Museum of the American
Indian, Heye Foundation, and is uniform
with Hispanic Notes and Monographs,
published by the Hispanic Society of
America, with which organization this
Museum is in cordial cooperation.

Arta^xx<i

A STONE EFFIGY PIPE
FROM KENTUCKY

GEORGE H. PEPPER

A STONE EFFIGY PIPE FROM
KENTUCKY

By George H. Pepper

NDIAN pipes of zoomorphic form
antedate the discovery of Amer-
ica, such effigies having been un-
earthed from many prehistoric
village-sites and mounds, while similar ones
are in use by members of some of the modern
Indian tribes. As most of the ancient ani-
mal pipes were no doubt employed in cere-
monies, it is little wonder that the highest
skill of the pipe-maker is reflected in these
particular productions. Many effigy pipes
are represented in the collections of the
Museum of the American Indian, Heye
Foundation, but there is one in particular
that, owing to its size, workmanship, and
history, deserves special consideration.

During the summer of 1915 the Museum
obtained the major part of the collection of

INDIAN NOTES

KENTUCKY

Kentucky archeological objects that had
been brought together by the late Col.
Bennett H. Young of Louisville. One of
these was a stone pipe, of unusual dimen-
sions and perfection of finish, whose distal
end is fashioned in the form of the head of
a wolf or of some similar animal. In 1876
Mr Lucien Carr and Prof. N. S. Shaler
described the specimen, and since that time
other writers, including Colonel Young,
have added information concerning it. Now
that the pipe has been permanently placed
in the Museum of the American Indian,
Heye Foundation, the writer has en-
deavored to assemble all facts that may
prove useful to those having occasion to
refer to this interesting example of abo-
riginal sculpture.

As the first known mention of this pipe
is that given by Carr and Shaler, and as
only parts of their description have been
used by more recent writers, their account1
will be quoted in full:

m "Figure 1— Plate VI [Plate VII] is a carved
pipe of the mound-builder pattern, and repre-
sents the head of some fanciful animal. It is

X INDIAN NOTES

EFFIGY PIPE

made of a highly metamorphosed clayey slate
of a yellowish color; and in places, as for instance
on the ear of the animal, it has a series of par-
allel lines of a darker color, the whole resembling
very much the graining in a piece of yellow pine.
This pipe is unusually large, and is given here
on a scale of one-half , being the only figure that
is at all reduced. It measures 16f inches in
length, 3f inches in height, and its weight is five
pounds seven and one-half ounces. The bowl
is If inches in width. It was found imbedded
in the roots of a tree, and may be some hun-
dreds of years old. It belongs to Mr. R. S.
Munford of Rowlett's Station, Hart County,
Kentucky, by whom it was kindly loaned for
representation. There is also in the collection
of the State Geological Survey a broken pipe of
steatite, about half the size of this one, having
very much the same head. In this latter speci-
men, the bowl shows unmistakably the marks
of the tool with which it was dug out, the striae
being perpendicular and not circular, as they
would have been if it had been bored out."

In 1910, Colonel Young added another
personal touch, in the following words:2

"It was found in the roots of a beech tree
which had grown on the top of a mound near

Green River, in Hart County The

pressure of the root and the concussion in the
fall of the tree broke the pipe into nine separate
pieces. Colonel Robert Munford, of Munford-
ville, Kentucky, from whom it was obtained,
and who was a most enthusiastic and zealous

AND MONOGRAPHS

KENTUCKY

antiquarian, discovered the pipe in the root
after the tree had been blown down, cut away
the pieces that were holding it, and searched
with intense diligence for the remaining parts
of this splendid piece of workmanship that were
lost. He moved the dirt carefully with his
hands and with a sifter, and in the course of
two or three months found every piece but one.
With glue, which he had learned from the
Indians to manufacture out of buck's horn, he
welded the separate pieces into a beautiful
whole again, but still one piece was lacking.
For eight months he searched for this last piece
until, like the woman in the Scriptures hunting
for the lost coin, he found it, and his patience
and courage were rewarded with the delight
which can come only to an antiquarian when,
after long months of toil and watchfulness, he
finds that which he sought."

The accompanying illustration (pi. i)
shows the pipe in its present condition. It
is complete in practically every detail, and
neither the surface nor the finest lines of
the incised features have suffered from the
fractures above noted. The pipe is of the
usual form that has the bowl placed at the
end of the stem and at a right angle to it.
The addition of the head of an animal gives
to the stem the suggestion of a body, al-
though there are no physical embellish-

INDIAN NOTES

EFFIGY PIPE

ments to impart to the stem the appearance
of such. The stem is 10 in. long, and aver-
ages 2 in. in height and 2\ in. in width.
There is a gentle taper from the proximal
end to the bowl, this part being squared
and having rounded edges. The bowl is 2 J
in. square, \\ in. high, and its opening is 1J
in. in diameter. The stem and the bowl
are without ornamentation, save that of the
natural striation of the stone. The distal
end of the stem is shouldered, and from it
extends a carved ornament in the form of
the head of a wolf or a dog, the statement
of Messrs Carr and Shaler to the effect that
I the pipe " represents the head of some fan-
ciful animal' ' being somewhat misleading.
When the pipe is resting in a horizontal po-
sition, the under part of the head is a
quarter of an inch above the base of the
stem. The head is carved in the round,
the ears being conical, and stand in high
relief. The eyes are represented by in-
cised circles, the nostrils by two crescentic
incisions, and the mouth by a broad,
deeply-cut line extending from a point be-
low the right eye, around the muzzle, and

AND MONOGRAPHS

KENTUCKY

relatively to the same position under the
left eye. The teeth are indicated by twenty-
live short, vertically-incised lines on the
lower edge of the left mouth-line, and
twenty-eight similar lines on the right side.
On the under part of the jaw there is an
incised, rounded-end figure which evidently
was intended to represent the depression
caused by the angle of the inferior maxillary.
The character of this particular feature is
shown in pi. i, b.

The carving of the head was carefully
done, the skilful workmanship representing
one of the best examples of ancient abo-
riginal carving as applied to pipes. It is
devoid of ornamentation, although the nat-
ural reddish-brown striation of the stone
is strongly emphasized on the head and
portions of the bowl, and indeed has the
appearance of intentional embellishment.
The boring at the mouth-end of the stem
averages three-quarters of an inch in diame-
ter, and is somewhat irregular. The in-
terior of the bowl is crudely worked, and
some of the vertical tool-marks are quite
deep. The entire outer surface of the pipe

INDIAN NOTES

EFFIGY PIPE

has been carefully smoothed, obliterating all
traces of primary cutting. From the ap-
pearance of the smooth, perfect, yellow-
brown surface, it would seem that the pipe
had suffered no decomposition, and that it
has changed but little, if at all, since it left
the hands of its maker.

In the Carr and Shaler description of this
pipe the material is given as a " highly
metamorphosed clayey slate." In Moore-
head's " Stone Age in North America,"3 it
is called " oolitic limestone." Dr Chester
A. Reeds, of the American Museum of
Natural History, pronounces it to be a
phyllite, a metamorphosed shale, and that
the red-brown striation is due to iron dis-
coloration.

In the Museum collections there is an-
other pipe, similar in form, size, and ma-
terial to the one described (pi. n). It was
collected in Maryland by F. C. Christ, of
Nazareth, Pennsylvania, but there is a
strong probability that it reached those
parts through barter. Pipes of this type
are not of common occurrence in the East-
ern states, although one of the first pub-

AND MONOGRAPHS

KENTUCKY

lished illustrations of Eastern Indian arti-
facts is that of a pipe with an animal head
carved at the bowl end.4

The Maryland pipe is 13 \ in. in length
and measures 3| in. from the base of the
stem to the top of the bowl. The stem
averages 2 in. in height and width. It is
rounded on three sides; the fourth side,
that on the left as viewed from the mouth-
end, is somewhat flattened, this exception
having been caused by the bed-plane of the
stone. The bowl is 1 J in. in height, and the
opening averages li in. in diameter; at the
mouth-end the drilling of the stem meas-
ures f in. Nine and a half inches from the
distal end there is a raised collar, \ in.
broad, which forms the neck of the bird-
head with which this part of the pipe is
ornamented. Judging by the form and
general character of the head, it was prob-
ably intended to represent an owl. Ear-
like projections are carved in high relief
and have a forward inclination. The fron-
tal plane is angular and raised; it com-
mences at the inner edges of the projections,
and narrows gradually until it reaches the

INDIAN NOTES

EFFIGY PIPE 13

base of the bill, and undoubtedly was de-
signed to represent the facial angles formed
by the circular lines of eye-feathers of the
owl. Below this section the head is grace-
fully rounded, but there are no indications
of eyes. The beak is carefully caryed and
well formed, the upper mandible overlap-
ping the lower, while deep incisions on the
sides, at the base of the beak, aid in de-
fining this feature. On the under surface
of the lower mandible there is a depressed
area with a central ridge that extends back-
ward from the bill (pi. n, b). The outline
of this part of the carving approximates that
of the under part of the jaw of the other
pipe.

From the general appearance of this bird
pipe it would seem that it had never been
completed. The head is smoothed, but
the implement marks are not obliterated,
and these are markedly apparent on the
collar and the bowl, while the lack of marks
to indicate the eyes, and the general ap-
pearance of the bowl, lend weight to this
supposition. The general color of the pipe
is yellow-brown, and on the upper surface

AND MONOGRAPHS

KENTUCKY

of the stem are natural longitudinal lines
of reddish-brown, similar in color to those
on the head and the bowl of the other pipe.
On the left side of the stem, below the
bowl of the owl pipe, there is a lightly

Fig. 1.

\ jj

Fig. 2.

fr h e>e oOSG*

TSI - Ml WUN - SGA - YA
WAN
Fig. 3. — Cherokee inscription on the pipe, with equiva-
entsin Cherokee type and in English characters.

scratched figure composed of interlaced
wave-lines (fig. 1), while a bow-shaped
figure is on the opposite side (fig. 2). On
the under part of the stem, near these
figures, there is a series of characters (fig. 3)
suggestive of a name, such as is often

INDIAN NOTES

EFFIGY PIPE

scratched or cut by farmers or others who
find aboriginal objects and who have little
regard for their archeological value. On
closer examination these faintly scratched
characters proved to be composed of de-
vices bearing such close resemblance to
Cherokee alphabetic characters, that a copy
of the inscription was sent to Mr James
Mooney, of the Bureau of American Eth-
nology, who kindly made an individual
comparison of the characters and sent the J
following report thereon :

"The inscription is in Cherokee characters,
the final character being doubtful, and is prob-
ably the name of the maker or owner. The
first word, of two characters, is Tsimu the
Cherokee attempt at 'James/ i.e. 'Jimmie.'
The second word is doubtful, by reason of the
imperfect form of the final character. It might
be a misspelled form for Wdnisgaya, or Wimis-
gaya, 'Men Far Away,' or 'Distant Men,' used
as a general name; but I am rather inclined to
think that it is a Cherokee attempt at some
civilized family name, as Winship, etc.

"Cherokee pipes are usually of a red-black
micaceous stone, frequently made darker by
means of grease. As the Cherokee alphabet
was invented about 1820, the pipe, if of the
same age as the inscription, is not more than
100 vears old."

AND MONOGRAPHS

KENTUCKY

If this pipe is of Cherokee origin, it must
have been made in prehistoric time. The
weight of evidence would seem to preclude
such an origin, but it may well belong to
the same period and be a production of the
same people who were responsible for the
animal effigy pipe. Who these people were
cannot be definitely determined, but they
were probably the Shawnee, a tribe that, in
I early times, had a wide distribution. In
the " Handbook of the American Indians"
Mr Mooney states that "they probably
wandered for some- time in Kentucky,
which was practically a part of their own
territory and not occupied by any other
tribe/' also that "the evidence afforded
by the mounds shows that the two tribes
[Shawnee and Cherokee] lived together for
a considerable period, both in South Caro-
lina and in Tennessee, and it is a matter
of history that the Cherokee claimed the
country vacated by the Shawnee in both
states after the removal of the latter to the
north." It would therefore seem that the
owl pipe may be of ancient Shawnee origin
and later became the property of a Chero-

INDIAN NOTES

EFFIGY PIPE

kee, who scratched thereon the name that
Mr Mooney has deciphered.

Pipes of this particular type are not un-
usual, although most of them are more
crudely made than the ones described. The
late Joseph D. McGuire5 described a similar
one as —

"an unusually large specimen of an un-
finished pipe, made of steatite, which is 19
inches long, 4 inches high, and 3 inches wide,
and weighs 9| pounds, and used as a weapon
would really be terrible. There are few surface
indications showing the striae of the tools with
which these implements were originally made,
and it is impossible to say from an examination
of many specimens whether stone or metal tools
were used, as the surfaces have been smoothed
off. As the shape of this pipe is perfect, it
would indicate that it was intended for use in
its present condition. If, however, it wras in-
tended that the bowd and stem w^ere to be bored
out, which was probably the case, it wTould
indicate that this was one of those 'great pipes'
to which reference is so often made in w'orks
of early North American travel, the size of
which distinguishes them from pipes intended
for individual use. Pipes of this type vary
from 6 to 19 inches in length, and are apparently
totemic. One specimen in the U. S. National
Museum, from Anderson County, Tennessee, has
a head on it, but it is impossible to determine
whether it represents a turtle or a bird, though

KENTUCKY

the head in the last illustration was probably
that of a dog or wolf."

Captain John Smith6 speaks in the follow-
ing words of his meeting with the Sasque-
sahanocks :

"One had the head of a Woolfe hanging in a
chaine for a Jewell, his Tobacco pipe three
quarters of a yard long, prettily carued with a
Bird, a Deere, or some such devise at the great
end, sufficient to beat out ones braines: with
Bowes, Arrowes, and clubs, sutable to their
greatnesse."

Very little is known of the actual use of
this type of pipes, save by analogy, but that
they were used in ceremonies and repre-
sent an elaboration of the ordinary utili-
tarian forms, is unquestioned. Descrip-
tions and illustrations of many such pipes
have been published, and the animal effigy
pipe of the Young collection has been al-
luded to by several writers. At this late
day there is little hope of finding unpub-
lished contemporary descriptions of the use
of such pipes at the time of the conquest,
and owing to the nonexistence of prehistoric
records, save in the way of picture-writing,

INDIAN NOTES

NOTES

the ceremonies in which they played a part
must remain unknown.

NOTES

1. Carr, Lucien, and Shaler, N. S., On
the Prehistoric Remains of Kentucky, Memoirs
of the Geological Survey of Kentucky, N. S.,
Shaler, Director, vol. r, part rv, Cambridge,
1876, p. 22.

2. Young, Bennett H., The Prehistoric Men
of Kentucky, Filson Club Publications, No. 25,
Louisville, 1910, pp. 235-291, ill., p. 288.

3. Moorehead, Warren K. The Stone Age
in North America, Boston, 1910, vol. 2, p. 77,
fig. 482. "Oolitic limestone pipe, Hart County,
Kentucky. Highly polished. A beautiful speci-
men. Collection of Bennett H. Young. These
long effigy pipes of this type are to be found in
the Smithsonian and American Museum col-
lections. An example in the G. A. West col-
lection, found in Ohio, is 14 inches long." See
also Moorehead, Prehistoric Implements, Cin-
cinnati, 1900, p. 158, fig. 235. Figures with

the caption, "From Col. Bennett H.

Young's
southern

collection, Louisville, Ky., found in
Ky."

4. Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts
and Sciences, Boston, 1785. See Saville, Mar-
shall H., Archeological Specimens from New
England, Indian Notes and Monographs, Mu-
seum of the American Indian, Heye Founda-
tion, vol. V, no. 1, New York, 1919.

AND MONOGRAPHS

20 KENTUCKY

5. McGuire, Joseph D., Pipes and Smoking
Customs of the American Aborigines, based on
Material in the U. S. National Museum, Re-
port of the U. S. National Museum, Washington,
1897, pp. 440-441,

6. Smith, Captain John, The Generall His-
toric of Virginia, New England and the Summer
Isles, London, 1632, p. 24.

INDIAN NOTES

*»<ttaa

Axtg

Atkf

<*Wt»

****•<*

INDIAN NOTES
AND MONOGRAPHS

VOL.X

NO. 2

A SERIES OF PUBLICA-
TIONS RELATING TO THE
AMERICAN ABORIGINES

A SACRED WARCLUB OF
THE OTO

M. R. HARRINGTON

NEW YORK

MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN

HEYE FOUNDATION

1920

FiiiB

j£jfl}aa

Publications of the Museum of the
American Indian, Heye Foundation

THE GEORGE G. HEYE EXPEDITION
CONTRIBUTIONS TO SOUTH AMER-
ICAN ARCHAEOLOGY
Vol.1

The Antiquities of Manabi, Ecuador: A Pre-
liminary Report. By Marshall H. Saville.
1907. $25.00.

Vol.2

The Antiquities of Manabi, Ecuador: Final
Report. By Marshall H. Saville. 1910.
$25.00.

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM

OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN,

HEYE FOUNDATION

Vol. 1

No. 1: Lucayan Artifacts from the Bahamas.
By Theodoor de Booy . Reprinted from Amer.
Anthropol., Vol. 15, 1913, No. 1. 50c.

No. 2 : Precolumbian Decoration of the Teeth
in Ecuador, with some Account of the Oc-
currence of the Custom in other parts of
North and South America. By Marshall H.
Saville. Reprinted from Amer. Anthropoid
Vol. 15, 1913, No. 3. 50c.

No. 3: Certain Kitchen-middens in Jamaica.
By Theodoor de Booy. Reprinted from
Amer. Anthropol., Vol. 15, 1913, No. 3. (Re-
printed, 1919.) 50c.

No. 4: Porto Rican Elbow-stones in the Heye
Museum, with discussion of similar objects
elsewhere. By J. Walter Fewkes. Reprinted
from Amer Anthropol., Vol. 15, 1913, No. 3.
ouc.

kdiao

-6-^6

and

°mffe

J k>e

INDIAN NOTES
AND MONOGRAPHS

VOL. X

NO. 2

A SERIES OF PUBLICA-
TIONS RELATING TO THE
AMERICAN ABORIGINES

A SACRED WARCLUB OF
THE OTO

M. R. HARRINGTON

NEW YORK

MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN

HEYE FOUNDATION

1920

A SACRED WARCLUB OF
THE OTO

M. R. HARRINGTON

1 - i

<&*%

BQi - -

A SACRED WARCLUB OF
THE 0T0

By M. R. Harrington

THIS archaic warclub from the Oto
Indians is an elaborate example
of a type of weapon once wide-
spread among the tribes bordering
the plains area to the east, and extending
to the Atlantic in the district north of the
Ohio river. It is usually found in much
simpler form, however, especially in the
case of c ubs made in comparatively recent
years, when the old native arts had suffered
degeneration.

Carved from one piece of hard, fine-
grained wood, and nicely polished, the
club consists of a flat handle, 22 in. long,
which, making a sharp curve at one end,
terminates in a ball with an iron spike.
Each side of the handle bears a longitudinal

INDIAN NOTES

OTO

ridge, and the lower edge a decorative pro-
tuberance, from which it gradually widens
toward the ball. Stretched on the upper
edge of the handle, with its forefeet touch-
ing the ball, is carved the effigy of an. otter,
whose eyes are represented by small brass
nails. A row of similar nails extends along
the animal's back, and the sides of both
handle and ball are ornamented with brass-
headed tacks placed in groups. The grip
of the handle is encircled with strips of
badly faded otter-fur, and a hole near its
apex affords passage for a thong for sus-
pension, or for the attachment of feathers
or other ornaments, now missing. On the
end of the handle may be seen thirteen
notches, some a little deeper and wider than
others, as if made at different times, but
it is not known whether these constituted
a record of the number of enemies struck
or killed with the weapon.

This particular object was more than a
mere weapon, for it was regarded by its
Indian owner as a sacred charm to give him
success in battle. Just as many Indians
had " war-bundles" made in accordance with

X INDIAN NOTES

CA_

Oraftg

WARCLUB

instructions received in dreams and visions
which contained a variety of charms and
medicines intended to give them power in
war, so the original owner made this club
after dreaming that a spirit otter had ap-
peared to him and instructed him how to
carve it, promising him magic aid in time
of trouble if he would always carry it on
the warpath.

"That club is my war-bundle/' said old
Ioway Coonskin, from whom it was pro-
cured. "There is nothing more in it — just
the club. It is just as powerful as a war-
bundle full of medicines."

AND MONOGRAPHS

INDIAN NOTES
AND MONOGRAPHS

VOL. X iJP^P No. 3

A SERIES OF PUBLICA-
TIONS RELATING TO THE
AMERICAN ABORIGINES

AN ILLINOIS
QUILLED NECKLACE

BY
ALANSON SKINNER

NEW YORK

MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN
HEYE FOUNDATION

1920

*ra

Publications of the Museum of the
American Indian, Heye Foundation

THE GEORGE G. HEYE EXPEDITION
CONTRIBUTIONS TO SOUTH AMER-
ICAN ARCHAEOLOGY
Vol. 1
The Antiquities of Manabi, Ecuador: A Pre-
liminary Report. By Marshall H. Saville.
1907. $25.00.

Vol.2
The Antiquities of Manabi, Ecuador: Final
Report. By Marshall H. Saville. 1910.
$25.00.

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM

OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN,

HEYE FOUNDATION

Vol. 1

No. 1: Lucayan Artifacts from the Bahamas.
By Theodoor de Booy. Reprinted from Amer.
Anthropoid Vol. 15, 1913, No. 1. 50c.

No. 3: Certain Kitchen-middens in Jamaica.
By Theodoor de Booy. Reprinted from
Amer. Anthropoid Vol. 15, 1913, No. 3. (Re-
printed, 1919) 50c.

No. 4: Porto Rican Elbow-stones in the He3'e
Museum, with discussion of similar objects
elsewhere. By J. Walter Fewkes. Reprinted
from Amer Anthropoid Vol. 15, 1913, No. 3.
50c.

tttdiaa Arts and OwftB BOtf*

INDIAN NOTES
AND MONOGRAPHS

VOL. X

No. 3

A SERIES OF PUBLICA-
TIONS RELATING TO THE
AMERICAN ABORIGINES

AN ILLINOIS
QUILLED NECKLACE

ALANSON SKINNER

NEW YORK

MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN
HEYE FOUNDATION

1920 .

AN ILLINOIS
QUILLED NECKLACE

ALANSON SKINNER

SKINNER— NECKLACE

PL. I

ILLINOIS QUILLED NECKLACE

AN ILLINOIS QUILLED
NECKLACE

By Alanson Skinner

THIS necklace is composed of a nar-
row woven band of buffalo-hair,
ornamented with tubular beads
of wood or cane, upon which, as a
foundation, deerskin had been wrapped, and
this had been handsomely decorated with
designs in porcupine-quills of natural black
and white, or dyed red and green.

Two of these long quilled cylinders are
sewed lengthwise on the band by means of
thread of basswood fiber, an unusual method
of attaching ornaments. They, and the
belt itself, are further adorned with metal
tinklers and scarlet-colored deer-hair at-
tached with thongs or with strips of braided
quills. The band is split at the top, an
opening being allowed so that it may be

INDIAN NOTES

34 ILLINOIS NECKLACE

put on over the head. Thence it tapers to
the other end, where it narrows to receive
two of the quilled beads, and ends in a bunch
of split hawk-feathers.

The only simliar object, so far as known,
is a necklace of beads or tubes of th's type
in the Peabody Museum of Harvard Uni-
versity, which forms part of the parapher-
nalia of an Illinois shaman. Moreover, the
use of woven buffalo -hair belts and scarfs,
while common among the southern Siouan
and central Algonkian tribes, is particularly
commented on by early French explorers
and Jesuits as being characteristic of the
Illinois, who showered these objects upon
the French pioneers as gifts.

Th's old specimen, which was obtained in
England, has been ascribed to the Peoria,
one of the largest and latest surviving
groups of the Illinois Confederacy.

INDIAN NOTES

fcWfanArte

a°<I Orafte Board

INDIAN NOTES
AND MONOGRAPHS

VOL.X Hffl^Sy No. 4

A SERIES OF PUBLICA-
TIONS RELATING TO THE
AMERICAN ABORIGINES

OLD SAUK AND FOX BEADED
GARTERS

M. R. HARRINGTON

NEW YORK

MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN
HEYE FOUNDATION

1920

India

n *** and Graft* Bow*

Publications of the Museum of the
American Indian, Heye Foundation

THE GEORGE G. HEYE EXPEDITION
CONTRIBUTIONS TO SOUTH AMER-
ICAN ARCHAEOLOGY
Vol.1

The Antiquities of Manabi, Ecuador: A Pre-
liminary Report. By Marshall H. Saville.
1907. $25.00.

Vol. 2

The Antiquities of Manabi, Ecuador: Final
Report. By Marshall H. Saville. 1910.
$25.00.

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM

OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN,

HEYE FOUNDATION

Vol. 1

No. 1: Lucayan Artifacts from the Bahamas.
By Theodoor de Booy . Reprinted from Amer.
Anthropol., Vol 15, 1913, No. 1. 50c.

No. 2 : Precolumbian Decoration of the Teeth
in Ecuador, with some Account of the Oc-
currence of the Custom in other parts of
North and South America. By Marshall H.
Saville. Reprinted from Amer, Anthropoid
Vol. 15, 1913, No. 3. 50c.

No. 3: Certain Kitchen-middens in Jamaica.
By Theodoor de Booy. Reprinted from
Amer. Anthropol., Vol. 15, 1913, No. 3. (Re-
printed, 1919.) 50c.

No. 4: Porto Rican Elbow-stones in the Heye
Museum, with discussion of similar objects
elsewhere. By J. Walter Fewkes. Reprinted
from Amer Anthropoid Vol. 15, 1913, No. 3.
50c.

INDIAN NOTES
AND MONOGRAPHS

VOL. X

No. 4

A SERIES OF PnRIrr,
"i^RICAN ABORIGINES

0LD SWK0,Z F°X B^ED
GARTERS

M<. R. HARRLVGTON

. XEW YORK
MUSEUM OF THF a,~,

HEYE FOUNDATION
J 920

*********

OLD SAUK AND
FOX BEADED GARTERS

M. R. HARRINGTON

OLD SAUK AND FOX BEADED
GARTERS

By M. R. Harrington

/ /"^ IF ALL the hundreds of Indian
I ^^/ J woven bead garters in the *Mu-
|§9|rFKS seum of the American Indian,
liTWmiJ Heye Foundation, the oldest is
probably a pair, represented in the accom-
panying illustration, which formed part of
the contents of a "war-bundle" collected
from the Sauk and Fox Indians of Okla-
homa. As the bird-quill belt described in
another paper (this series, vol. x, no. 5)
may be said to belong to the period before
the Indians obtained the white man's beads,
this pair of garters may be regarded as
representing the period immediately follow-
ing, for the large blue and white beads of
which they are composed are of the type
brought among the Indians in the central

INDIAN NOTES

SAUK AND FOX

districts west of the Mississippi by the first
white traders, usually called "pony traders"
by the Indians because they brought their
stocks of trade goods on pack-ponies. A
little later, when smaller beads like those in
present use were brought in, the "pony-
trader beads" soon fell from favor in this
district, and are seen only on the older
pieces of Indian handiwork, although in the
Northwest they seem to have lingered
longer.

The garters referred to are decidedly the
worse for age and wear, but the more per-
fect of the two still measures 2 J in. wide by
11 in. long, and was once undoubtedly
longer. The two* are made on a yellowish
brown native yarn, probably buffalo-wool,
which, unlike more modern bead garters,
was woven out at the ends fully an inch
beyond the beadwork, beyond which the
yarn evidently hung loose as a fringe, in
this respect resembling the recent specimens
of this class.

The design consists of three hourglass-
shaped figures outlined with a double row
of white beads on a blue ground, and con-

INDIAN NOTES

BEADED GARTERS

nected by two rows of white beads with a
blue row between, extending down the cen-
ter of the garter.

The writer does not remember having
seen any other example of solid beadwork
belonging to this period, although we have in
the collection a few woven buffalo-wool arm-
bands, necklaces, and sashes, which show a
few " pony-trader beads" strung on the yarn
and woven in so as to form a pattern.
These are all from Sauk and Fox and Osage
war-bundles.

These garters and the bundle of which
they formed a part are mentioned in the
writer's book on " Sacred Bundles of the
Sac and Fox Indians," Anthr. Publ. Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania Museum, vol. iv,
no. 2, p. 201, Phila., 1914.

AND MONOGRAPHS

INDIAN NOTES
AND MONOGRAPHS

VOL. X

NO. 5

A SERIES OF PUBLICA-
TIONS RELATING TO THE
AMERICAN ABORIGINES

A BIRD-QUILL BELT OF THE
SAUK AND FOX INDIANS

M. R. HARRINGTON

NEW YORK

MUSEUM OP THE AMERICAN INDIAN
HEYE FOUNDATION

1920

jaaian Arts an* O*

Publications of the Museum of the
American Indian, Heye Foundation

THE GEORGE G. HEYE EXPEDITION
CONTRIBUTIONS TO SOUTH AMER-
ICAN ARCHAEOLOGY
Vol. 1

The Antiquities of Manabi, Ecuador: A Pre-
liminary Report. By Marshall H. Saville.
1907. $25.00.

Vol. 2

The Antiquities of Manabi, Ecuador: Final
Report. By Marshall H. Saville. 1910.
$25.00.

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM

OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN,

HEYE FOUNDATION

Vol. 1

No. 1: Lucayan Artifacts from the Bahamas.
By Theodoor de Booy . Reprinted from Amer .
Anthropoid Vol. 15, 1913, No. 1. 50c.

No. 2 : Precolumbian Decoration of the Teeth
in Ecuador, with some Account of the Oc-
currence of the Custom in other parts of
North and South America. By Marshall II.
Saville. Reprinted from Amer, Anthropoid
Vol. 15, 1913, No. 3. 50c.

No. 3: Certain Kitchen-middens in Jamaica.
By Theodoor de Booy. Reprinted from
Amer. Anthropol., Vol. 15, 1913, No. 3. (Re-
printed, 1919.) 50c.

No. 4: Porto Rican Elbow-stones in the Heye
Museum, with discussion of similar objects
elsewhere. By J. Walter Fewkes. Reprinted
from Amer Anthropol., Vol. 15, 1913, No. 3.
50c.

INDIAN NOTES
AND MONOGRAPHS

VOL. X

NO. 5

A SERIES OF PUBLICA-
TIONS RELATING TO THE
AMERICAN ABORIGINES

A BIRD-QUILL BELT OF THE
SAUK AND FOX INDIANS

M. R. HARRINGTON

NEW YORK

MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN
HEYE FOUNDATION

1920

A BIRD-QUILL BELT OF

THE SAUK AND FOX

INDIANS

M. R. HARRINGTON

r<<

««•

**tj

A BIRD-QUILL BELT OF THE
SAUK AND FOX INDIANS

By M. R. Harrington

THIS curious old belt of buffalo-hide,
with its neat decoration in colored
bird-quills, is valuable to the col-
lections of the Museum of the
American Indian, Heye Foundation, not
only because it represents the period of
Indian art before the introduction of glass
beads by the whites, but also because ex-
amples of bird-quill decoration of any kind
are now rare.

The belt formed part of the contents of
a " war-bundle" collected from the Sauk
and Fox Indians of Oklahoma, and, be-
cause it was considered a powerful amulet
and to confer warlike powers on its wearer,
it was donned only on the warpath, after
the enemy had been sighted, and in the
ceremonies connected with the bundle.

INDIAN NOTES

SAUK AND FOX

While the belt itself and the symbols on
it were considered powerful magically, much
of the power, according to Indian ideas,
resided in the bunch of feathers attached
to the back of the belt so as to hang down
behind the wearer like a tail. Of these, the
skin of a crow gave to the warrior the
watchful cunning of that bird, and the
hawk-feathers the hawk's power of swift
attack, while the red-dyed eagle-down sym-
bolized blood and war. Four little bundles
of herbs attached to the bunch had the
power, the Indians believed, to turn aside
arrows and bullets.

The belt itself is about If inches wide
and 29 1 inches long; it is made of buffalo-
hide, with loops at the ends and skin
strings to tie it about the body. The bird-
quill decoration completely covers the side
supposed to be worn outward, and consists
of a background of dark red, divided into
two fields by a transverse band of black
and white stripes in the middle, and finished
at each end with a similar though narrower
band of stripes. In the center of each red
field there is a black rectangle outlined in

INDIAN NOTES

BIRD-QUILL BELT

white, and containing a white cruciform
figure with a black, rectangular center. On
the inner surface of the belt the decoration
consists of alternate rectangles of black and
yellow buffalo-wool yarn, and the crosses
in bird-quills brought through from the
front.

Both black and red quills have been col-
ored with native dyes, the white ones left
their natural color. Laid side by side trans-
versely of the belt, they are held in place
by six parallel lines of sinew stitching which
penetrate the belt by means of longitudinal
slits made for the purpose and engage the
buffalo-wool yarn on the back, which is also
laid transversely. The ends of the quills
are carefully bent over the edges of the
leather and neatly fastened under the yarn,
presenting an attractive finish.

The belt and the bundle of which it forms
a part have been mentioned in the writer's
paper on the " Sacred Bundles of the Sac
and Fox Indians/'1 and the use of bird-
quills in decoration by the Eskimo and
others in Orchard's book on the subject.2

AND MONOGRAPHS

SAUK AND FOX

NOTES

1. Harrington, M. R., Sacred Bundles of the
Sac and Fox Indians, Anthr. Publ. University of
Pa. Museum, vol. iv, no. 2, p. 198, Phila., 1914.

2. Orchard, W. C, The Technique of Porcu-
pine-Quill Decoration among the North Ameri-
can Indians, Contributions from the Museum of
the American Indian, Heye Foundation, vol. TV,
no. 1, New York, 1916.

INDIAN NOTES

and Oralta Board

INDIAN NOTES
AND MONOGRAPHS

VOL. X

No. 6

A SERIES OF PUBLICA-
TIONS RELATING TO THE
AMERICAN ABORIGINES

AN ARCHAIC IOWA
TOMAHAWK

M. R. HARRINGTON

NEW YORK

MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN

HEYE FOUNDATION

1920 „ ivK

Arte uHTOt

Publications of the Museum of the
American Indian, Heye Foundation

THE GEORGE G. HEYE EXPEDITION
CONTRIBUTIONS TO SOUTH AMER-
ICAN ARCHAEOLOGY
Vol.1

The Antiquities of Manabi, Ecuador: A Pre-
liminary Report. By Marshall H. Saville.
1907. $25.00.

Vol.2

The Antiquities of Manabi, Ecuador: Final
Report. By Marshall H. Saville. 1910.
$25.00.

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM

OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN,

HEYE FOUNDATION

Vol. 1

No. 1: Lucayan Artifacts from the Bahamas.
By Theodoor de Booy . Reprinted from Amer .
AnthropoL, Vol. 15, 1913, No. 1. 50c.

No. 2 : Precolumbian Decoration of the Teeth
in Ecuador, with some Account of the Oc-
currence of the Custom in other parts of
North and South America. By Marshall H.
Saville. Reprinted from Amer. AnthropoL,
Vol. 15, 1913, No. 3. 50c.

No. 3: Certain Kitchen-middens in Jamaica.
By Theodoor de Booy. Reprinted from
Amer. AnthropoL , Vol. 15, 1913, No. 3. (Re-
printed, 1919.) 50c.

No. 4: Porto Rican Elbow-stones in the Heye
Museum, with discussion of similar objects
elsewhere. By J. Walter Fewkes. Reprinted
from Amer AnthropoL, Vol. 15, 1913, No. 3.
50c.

***

INDIAN NOTES
AND MONOGRAPHS

VOL.X l(K>ii No. 6

A SERIES OF PUBLICA-
TIONS RELATING TO THE
AMERICAN ABORIGINES

AN ARCHAIC IOWA
TOMAHAWK

M. R. HARRINGTON

NEW YORK

MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN

HEYE FOUNDATION

1920

AN ARCHAIC IOWA
TOMAHAWK

M. R. HARRINGTON

**« *** Drafts Be

<
<

<
I
o
cc
<

AN ARCHAIC IOWA TOMA-
HAWK

By M. R. Harrington

THIS remarkable old war-hatchet
from the Iowa Indians of Okla-
homa is not only unique in the
collections of the Museum of the
American Indian, Heye Foundation, as
there is nothing like it from any tribe, but
it is also especially interesting because the
primitive method by which its slender, iron,
celt-like blade is attached to its handle
takes us back to the days before the toma-
hawk, as we now know it, had ever been
seen in America, and suggests a hitherto
unsuspected method of hafting, for actual
use, the long, slender, prehistoric copper
celts often found in the Mississippi valley-
and the Gulf States — celts usually called
"ceremonial."1

I NDIAN NOTES

IOWA

The handle of this implement, which re-
sembles closely that of many " ball-headed"
war-clubs, is 19| inches long, made of some
hard, fine-grained wood resembling maple,
is rather flat, and tapers, gradually in-
creasing in width from the pointed proximal
end (near which is a hole for a wrist thong),
to the distal end, where it makes a sharp
curve, but instead of expanding into a ball
at this point like a war-club, it continues at a
right angle for about 2\ inches, only slightly
broader and thicker, and is there cut
squarely across. On the outside of this
j curved part is carved in the round the figure
i of an otter, its head projecting beyond the
square-cut end, its eyes made of little hoi-
low cylinders of copper driven into the
wood, its four legs embracing the thickened
portion and its tail extending back along the
handle proper. The iron blade, llf inches
long, 2 J inches wide at the bit and f inch
at the poll, penetrates the thickened por-
tion from end to end, entering just below
the otter's chin and emerging from the base
of its tail. It is embellished with hammered
dents forming wide, shallow notches along

INDIAN NOTES

TOMAHAWK 57

both edges, and is provided with a notched
projection at the tip of the poll and a per-
foration nearer the handle, both perhaps
intended for the suspension of feathers or
other ornaments or symbols. The whole
weapon shows the wear and polish of long
handling, and seems to have been painted
with aboriginal pigments in two colors at
different times, the first being a dark brown,
almost black, showing only where the sec-
ond, a dull red, is worn away. In places the
pigment remaining has the caked appear-
ance of dried blood.

The tomahawk was found tied to the out-
side of an old war-bundle, or wdruxawe,
containing various charms and medicines
used in battle, when purchased from Frank
Kent, an Iowa Indian. He said it had at
one time been the property of his wife's
father, chief Ben Hollo way, from whose an-
cestors it had descended for a number of
generations. Little detailed information
concerning the bundle or the tomahawk
was remembered, but it is probable that
the otter was the "dream helper" of the
original maker of the bundle — the animal

AND MONOGRAPHS

IOWA

that had appeared to him when he fasted
for power as a youth, and that he carved
it in the handle of his war-hatchet to ac-
quire for himself the otter's power of swift
attack, as well as the benefit of its mystical
connection with the " Medicine Dance."2
The otter was placed on the handle, the
maker probably told his friends, in such a
position that it could "see" the wound made
in the enemy's skull, and could also drink
his blood.

NOTES

1. Moore, Clarence B., Aboriginal Sites on
Tennessee River, Journal of the Academy of
Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, vol. xvi, pp.
403-404, Phila. , 1915. Moore, Certain Aborigi-
nal Remains of the Black Warrior River, ibid.,
vol. xin, pp. 152, 153, 162, 174, Phila., 1905.

2. Skinner, Alanson, Medicine Ceremonies
of the Menomini, Iowa, etc.; Indian Notes and
Monographs, vol. iv, Mus. Amer. Ind., Heye
Found., New York, 1920. (In press.)

INDIAN NOTES

INDIAN NOTES
AND MONOGRAPHS

Edited by F. W. Hodge

Vol X

No. 7

A SERIES OF PUBLICA-
TIONS RELATING TO THE
AMERICAN ABORIGINES

A WOODEN IMAGE FROM
KENTUCKY

GEORGE H. PEPPER

NEW YORK

MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN
HEYE FOUNDATION

192

Su ■■•

Only the first ten volumes of Indian
Notes and Monographs are numbered.
The unnumbered parts may readily be
determined by consulting the List of
Publications issued as one of the series.

INDIAN NOTES
AND MONOGRAPHS

Edited by F. W. Hodge

Vol X

No. 7

A SERIES OF PUBLICA-
TIONS RELATING TO THE
AMERICAN ABORIGINES

A WOODEN IMAGE FROM
KENTUCKY

GEORGE II. PEPPER

NEW YORK

MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN

HEYE FOUNDATION

1921

A WOODEN IMAGE FROM
KENTUCKY

BY
GEORGE H. PEPPER

^^Sfltoft

PEPPER KENTUCKY IMAGE

PL. I

FRONT VIEW OF THE KENTUCKY IMAGE

A WOODEN IMAGE FROM
KENTUCKY

By George H. Pepper

REHISTORIC wooden images
of human form from the
eastern and central parts of
the United States are practi-
cally unknown in the collections of
American museums. Salts cave and
Mammoth cave in Kentucky, wherein so
many perishable objects of Indian manu-
facture have been found, have yielded
no examples of an art that must have been
widespread and highly developed before
the discovery of America.

The Key Marco culture of the Gulf
coast of Florida has furnished a number
of carved wooden figures, but no general
deductions can be drawn from the scat-
tered objects that have survived and
which give us but a faint idea of what

INDIAN NOTES X

KENTUCKY IMAGE

this particular phase of Indian art must
have been when at its zenith.

The late Col. Bennett H. Young, of
Louisville, was fortunate in obtaining a
wooden image of human form that had
been found in his own state. In his
Prehistoric Men of Kentucky1 he states:

"It is the only prehistoric image in Kentucky
of wood that has been thoroughly preserved,
and the manner of its making gives evidence that
it had been executed by artists who antedated
the historic period. Its form resembles the
stone images, as it is in a sitting posture with a
flat base and was built so it would stand alone,
and the pose of the arms is very much like that
found in the images."

In 1874, Lewis Collins, in his History
of Kentucky,2 published what is probably
the first description of this image.
He says:

"In the winter of 1869, L. Farmer, of Pine-
ville, was hunting a fox (that had caught his
turkey) among the cliffs that surround Pine-
ville, and found a wooden image of a man,
about two feet high, in a sitting posture, with no
legs. It looked as though it might have been
made by the Indians centuries ago. It is a
good imitation of a man, and is made of yellow

INDIAN NOTES

CARVED IN WOOD

pine. Some of the features, part of its nose and
ears, are obliterated by time, although found in a
place where it was kept entirely dry. One ear
is visible, with a hole pierced in it as though once
ornamented with jewelry. It is a great curiosity
to travellers. The oldest inhabitants can tell
nothing about it."

This specimen is now the property of
the Museum of the American Indian,
Heye Foundation, and an idea of its
form may be gained from the accom-
panying illustrations. Whether found in
a cave or in a rock-shelter, the image
must have been protected from the
elements, as its form is well preserved,
although the surface has deteriorated
through weathering, and the features
and other more delicate parts of the
carving have suffered in consequence.
From the primitive point of view, the
treatment is masterful, but the sculptor
failed to represent the lower part of the
body, the hips and legs being depicted
by an angular block which forms the
supporting base. Owing to the fact
that no similar figures in wood are
available for comparison, it is impossible

AND MONOGRAPHS

KENTUCKY IMAGE

to state whether this particular treat-
ment was commonly employed, but
judging from the modeling of similar
figures in pottery and stone, the carvings
in wood no doubt reflected similar
individual peculiarities and taste.

Fortunate indeed is the student in the
possession of this striking example of
the early art of woodcarving among the
aborigines of America, but it is unfor-
tunate that the features have suffered to
such an extent in the general surface de-
composition. The eyes, nose, and mouth
of the less destructible figures mentioned
show such a range of featural variance
that the inability to determine these
features in the wooden image precludes
the possibility of adequate comparison.
The loss of the original surface has also
obliterated all tool marks, making it
impossible also to determine whether
stone or metal implements were used in
its production: thus one of the most
tangible evidences of age has vanished.

The figure is probably of yellow pine,
as Collins states, and is 25^ inches in

INDIAN NOTES

PEPPER KENTUCKY IMAGE

PL. H

PROFILE VIEW OF THE KENTUCKY IMAGE

TREATMENT

height. The base is angular, and on
the front and the sides is uncarved;
it is 9 inches broad at the front, and is
rounded to the back portion, which is
6 x/i inches wide; the height of the base
in front is \\^ inches, and 3^ inches in
the rear. The trunk is squared, and
at the base is \}/± inches broad and 3J4
inches thick. The mammae are not
represented, but the chest is rounded
and is made prominent by a flattening
of the abdominal region that begins 7^2
inches from the upper part of the base.
The neck is practically cylindrical and
is 3 inches in diameter, the space from
the shoulder to the lower part of the ear
being 3^ inches. The head is dolico-
cephalic in form, and the face is not
flattened, as is the case with certain
stone figures of the same general type.
There remains but a suggestion of the
eyes, nose, and mouth, not enough to
determine what the features had been.
Portions of the ears remain, that of the
right one showing the general form and
size. This evidently is the one that

AND MONOGRAPHS

KENTUCKY IMAGE

was complete and perforated when the
figure was found, as mentioned in
Collins' account, above quoted. The
back of the trunk has a very pronounced
ridge extending from a point a few
inches below the neck to the base piece,
this of course being an accentuation of
the vertebral column. At the bottom of
the back part of the base-block the
surface has been roughly carved and
was probably intended for the median
line and rounded portions of the buttocks.
The arms are carved in relief and are
well formed; the shoulders are gracefully
rounded, and the bend of the elbow, as
well as the proportionate size of the
upper and lower parts of the arms, were
given thoughtful consideration by the
carver. The hands, with extended fingers,
rest upon the sides of the base, which
approximates the thighs. The fingers
are carved in high relief and the right
hand is well preserved.

Although there remain but few pre-
historic wooden images, either large or
small, the early narratives contain de-

INDIAN NOTES

PEPPER KENTUCKY IMAGE

PL. Ill

REAR VIEW OF THE KENTUCKY IMAGE

EARLY DESCRIPTIONS

scriptions that prove their existence and
use. From these accounts it would seem
that they were employed in many ways
by the natives of the eastern and southern
parts of the United States.

One of the earliest references to images
or idols of wood is that given in 1590
in Hariot's Narrative? In the description
of "Ther Idol Kiwasa, " which was kept
in the sacred house of the village of Secotan
on Pamlico river, North Carolina, it states
that —

"The people of this cuntrie haue an Idol,
which they call Kiwasa: yt is carued of woode
in lengthe 4. foote whose heade is like the heades
of the people of Florida, the face is of a flesh
colour, the brest white, the rest is all blacke, the
thighes are also spottet with whitte. He hath
a chayne abowt his necke of white beades, be-
tweene which are other Rownde beades of copper
which they esteeme more then golde or siiuer.
This Idol is placed in the temple of the towne of
Secotam, as the keper of the kings dead corpses.
Somtyme they haue two of thes idoles in theyr
churches, and sometime 3, but neuer aboue,
which they place in a darke corner wher they
shew terrible."

In Hariot's plate xviii, under the

AND MONOGRAPHS

KENTUCKY IMAGE

caption " Their danses which they use
att their hyghe feastes," there are repre-
sented seven posts, which are higher
than the dancers. Each has a human
head carved at the upper end, from which
the post tapers to the point where it
enters the ground. They are placed
equidistant and form a circle, the faces
directed toward the center.

In 1624, Captain John Smith4 spoke of
the images of the Virginia Indians as
follows:

"They thinke that all the gods are of humane
shape, and therefore represent them by Images
in the formes of men; which they call Kewa-
sowok; one alone is called Kewasa; them they
place in their Temples, where they worship, pray,
sing, and make many offerings. The common
sort thinke them also gods."

Some of the early writers assert that the
images had nothing to do with religious
observances, but were statues of great
men or heroes. Adair, writing of the
upper Creeks in 1775,5 says:

"I never heard that our North American
Indians had images of any kind. There is a
carved human statue of wood, to which, however,

INDIAN NOTES

SIGNIFICANCE

they pay no religious homage. It belongs to
the head war-town of the Upper Muskohge
country, and seems to have been originally
designed to perpetuate the memory of some
distinguished hero, who deserved well of his
country; for, when their Cusseena, or bitter
black, drink is about to be drank in the
synedrion, they frequently, on common occasions,
will bring it there, and honour it with the
first conch-shell-full, by the hand of the chief
religious attendant; and then they return it to
its former place. It is observable, that the
same beloved waiter, or holy attendant, and
his co-adjutant, equally observe the same
ceremony to every person of reputed merit,
in that quadrangular place. When I past that
way, circumstances did not allow me to view
this' singular figure; but I am assured by
several of the traders, who have frequently seen
it, that the carving is modest, and very neatly
finished, not unworthy of a modern civilized
artist."

Charles C. Jones6 writes:

"Elsewhere in the Spanish narratives do we
read of wooden images of birds; but, so far as
we now remember, no account is given of a single
idol or object of adoration among the aborigines.
At Talomeco [a former Creek town near Savan-
nah river, South Carolina], De Soto found a
large temple or mausoleum, at whose entrance

AND MONOGRAPHS

KENTUCKY IMAGE

were gigantic statues of wood, carved with
considerable skill, the largest of which was
twelye feet high. They were armed with various
weapons and 'stood in threatening attitudes,
with ferocious looks.' The interior of the
temple was decorated with statues of various
shapes and sizes. There was also a great
profusion of conchs and different kinds of sea
and river shells. It does not appear, however,
that these images were objects of religious vener-
ation or positive worship. Like the 'carved
human statue of wood' in the head war-town of
the upper Muskohge country, described by
Adair, they seem rather to have been effigies of
heroes, the embodiments of brave memories,
the symbols of tribal pomp and power."

The same writer7 also says:

"Of all the Southern tribes, however, the
Natchez were probably most addicted to the
worship of idols. Pere le Petit {Letters Ed. et
Cur., iv, 261, quoted by Dr. Brinton, in the
Historical Magazine, vol. ix, p. 300) says:
'The Natchez have a temple filled with idols.
These idols are different figures of men and women
for which they have the deepest veneration.'
In another passage he is more explicit: 'Their
idols are images of men and women made of stone
and baked clay, heads and tails of extraordinary
serpents, stuffed owls, pieces of crystal and the
jaw-bones o'f great fishes.'"

INDIAN NOTES

IMAGES OF STONE

It is therefore evident that the Indians
comprising the ancient Southern tribes
used the idols of stone and pottery in
their temples, and, no doubt, in con-
nection with similar idols carved from
wood. Dr Joseph Jones,8 in his general
conclusions concerning the antiquities of
Tennessee, states:

"It is impossible to establish, by authentic
history, the relations of the stone-grave race of
Tennessee with the Natchez, and we do not assert
that they were one and the same people, but only
that they were most probably closely related
in their origin, and may, at some former time,
have been subjected to the same form of govern-
ment, and practised the same or similar rites."

To what extent and in what numbers
wooden idols in human form were used
by the prehistoric Indians can never
be ascertained, but from the great
number of similar figures in stone and
pottery that, through their ability to
withstand the elements, have been pre-
served, it is highly probable that a great
many were employed by the natives,
both in their sacred houses and in their
general ceremonies. As early as 1807

AND MONOGRAPHS

KENTUCKY IMAGE

two such stone idols were described as
having been presented to Mr Jefferson.
In writing of these idols, C. C. Jones9 says:

"But is is not alone in Georgia that these
images are found. Tennessee, above all her
sister states, seems to be most prolific of them.
In the beginning of this century, Mr. Jefferson
was presented with two 'Indian busts' which
were unearthed by some laborers who were
excavating along the bank of the Cumberland
River, near Palmyra (Monthly Magazine, or
British Register, vol. xxiv, part I, for 1807,
p. 74). They are described thus: 'The human
form extends to the middle of the body, and the
figures are nearly of the natural size. The
lineaments are strongly marked, and such as are
peculiar to the copper-colored aboriginal inhabi-
tants of America. It is not known of what
materials they are made: some are of opinion
that they have been cut with a chisel or sharp
instrument out of stone: others think that they
have been moulded or shaped of a soft composi-
tion, and afterward baked. The substance
is extremely hard. It has not been ascertained
whether they are idols or only images of dis-
tinguished men. It will be an interesting object
of research for antiquarians to discover who were
the ancestors of the present Indians capable of
executing such a good resemblance of the human
head, face, neck, and shoulders.'"

INDIAN NOTES

IMAGES OF POTTERY

Most of the pottery idols are relatively
small, but some of those made of stone
exceed two feet in height, and many of
these closely approximate the form of
the wooden idol from Kentucky.

Gen. Gates P. Thruston10 describes
and illustrates three stone idols in the
collection of the Tennessee Historical
Society. One of these, from Trousdale
county, in general appearance is similar
to the wooden figure under consideration,
the base being squared and the arms
resting at the sides. One arm is missing,
but the central portion of the remaining
one is carved in the round. Most of
the stone idols of this type have an oval
face, but the second or central one of
the group referred to by Thruston has
an elongate face, with a pronounced
pointed chin. This one is from William-
son county, the third idol is from Smith
county, Tennessee. The arms are ex-
tended at the sides, with the forearms
thrown forward and the hands flattened
upon the knees, palms down, with ringers
extended. The chest portion is raised,

AND MONOGRAPHS

KENTUCKY IMAGE

the abdominal region being thereby
depressed, but having a rounded central
area. These images are all from "the
general section occupied by the Stone
Grave race in middle Tennessee."

In 1886 a stone idol was found near
the Etowah group of mounds at Carters-
ville, Georgia. It is twenty-one inches
in height and represents a seated human
figure with crossed legs. The body is
squared and is not unlike that of our
wooden image from Kentucky. The
treatment of the arms is the same, the
shoulders being rounded and the elbows
bent; the hands rest upon the knees,
and the fingers are extended. The ears
are carved in relief, and, judging by the
remaining portion of the right ear of the
wooden figure, are of the same form.
The face is more rounded, but in its
entirety the idol shows that both figures
might well have come from the same
source.11

Another stone idol, from the same
place, was figured and described by
C. C. Jones in 1873. 12 It is 15% inches

INDIAN NOTES

IMAGES OF POTTERY

in height, and represents the figure of a
seated woman with a garment covering
the hips and legs. The trunk is squared,
and the breasts are in high relief and
well carved. One arm is missing, but
the other is separated from the body by a
broad space, and the closed hand rests
against the hip. The ears are well
defined and are pierced for the attach-
ment of ornaments. This figure is much
more realistic than any other that had
been noted, as the clavicles, breasts, and
navel are indicated and the kilt-like
dress is ornamented both on the sides
and the back; it is, however, not so well
proportioned as the one found in 1886.

In the final analysis of his investiga-
tions as to the use of human images by
the early tribes of Georgia and the
adjacent country, Jones thus summarizes
his conclusions:13

"Without further pursuing this inquiry
into the recorded observations of the early
writers who have endeavored to inform us with
regard to the religion of the Southern Indians,
it will be perceived that, while we have thus

AND MONOGRAPHS

KENTUCKY IMAGE

far failed to note any emphatic account declaring
the existence of idol-worship among the Georgia
tribes, we are certified of the fact that idols were
seen in the possession of coterminous nations,
and that they were held in superstitious venera-
tion and regard, in some measure at least, as
objects of devotion. It does appear, however,
that they occupied, in the esteem of the natives,
a position far inferior to that conceded to the
sun or to the Great Spirit, and that they con-
stituted only a sort of religious machinery in the
hands of kings, priests, conjurers, and old men,
with which to dignify temples, supplement
certain sacred festivals, and operate upon the fears
and credulity of the more ignorant and unthinking
masses. One is tempted to regard them rather
as conjurers' images, as the private property of
priests, as the likenesses of famous dead, and as
the potent charms of medicine-men, than as the
generally acknowledged embodiments of the
person and presence of unseen yet recognized
divinities. Although Bolzius, Bartram, Adair,
and others, deny either positively or inferentially
the existence of idols or images within the limits
then occupied by the Georgia Indians, subsequent
investigations prove by the discovered presence
of images themselves, that at some time or
other idol-worship of some sort was here practiced.
The ornamented posts, the wooden images, and
the questionable figures of men, birds, and ani-
mals sketched upon the white walls of the Creek

INDIAN NOTES

CONCLUSIONS

houses — if any religious significance they pos-
sessed— have long since perished."

Many other authorities might be
quoted and mention made of the employ-
ment of similar objects by modern tribes,
such as the use of carved human faces,
by the Delaware Indians on the posts of
their long-houses; the use of medicine
dolls in sacred bundles; and of small
fetishes in human form, sometimes merely
the representation of a head, which may
well be a reflex of the more elaborate
images of earlier times. Such figures are
mentioned by Zeisberger,14 who says:

"The only idol which the Indians have, and
which may properly be called an idol, is their
Wsinkhoalican, that is image. It is an image
cut in wood, representing a human head, in
miniature, which they always carry about them
either on a string around their neck or in a bag.
They often bring offerings to it. In their houses
of sacrifices they have a head of this idol as large
as life put upon a pole in the middle of the
room."

It is to be regretted that there are not
more of these wooden images and that
so little definite information concern-

AND MONOGRAPHS

KENTUCKY IMAGE

ing their use has been recorded; but the
Kentucky specimen furnishes conclusive
evidence that idols of wood were carved
in the same form as were those of stone
and pottery.

Investigations made by early writers
seem to prove that images in human form
and of all three kinds of materials
referred to were used by the Indians in
their places of worship, and all of these
types have been found in Kentucky.
Among the stone figures from that state,
similar to those herein mentioned, three
are figured by Colonel Young. The
exact localities from which they came is
not known, but they no doubt had their
origin in the southern part of Kentucky,
where practically all of the human images
of pottery illustrated by Young were
unearthed. Pineville, Kentucky, where
the wooden figure was found, is in Bell
county, on the southern border, and is
only a few miles from the northern part of
Claiborne county, Tennessee. It is there-
fore probable that the wooden image
came from a locality not far from the

INDIAN NOTES

NOTES

northern boundary of the area noted for
images of this form, though of other
materials.

NOTES

i. Young, Bennett H. The Prehistoric Men
of Kentucky, Filson Club Publications,
No. 25, p. 269, ill., p. 265, Louisville, 1910.

2. Collins, Lewis. History of Kentucky,
vol. 2, p. 412, Covington, Kentucky, 1874.

3-. Hariot, Thomas. A Briefe and True
Report of the New Found Land of Vir-
ginia, Frankfort, 1590; Quaritch reprint,
London, 1893.

4. Smith, Captain John. The General His-

toric of Virginia, New England, and the
Summer Isles, p. 10, London, 1624.

5. Adair, James. The History of the American

Indians, pp. 19-22, London, 1775.

6. Jones, Charles C, Jr. Antiquities of the

Southern Indians, p. 423, New York, 1873.

7. Ibid., p. 427.

8. Jones, Dr Joseph. Explorations of the

Aboriginal Remains of Tennessee, Smith-
sonian Contributions to Knowledge (Pub-
lication no. 259), p. 147, Washington,
1876.

9. Jones, Charles C, Jr. Op. cit., p. 436.
10. Thruston, Gates P. The Antiquities of

Tennessee and the Adjacent States,
pp. 103-104, Cincinnati, 1897.

AND MONOGRAPHS

KENTUCKY IMAGE

ii. Moorehead, Warren K. The Stone Age
in North America, vol. 2, p. 28, Boston,
1910.

12. Jones, Charles C, Jr. Op. cit. pp. 432-

435-

13. Ibid., pp. 429-430.

14. Zeisberger, David. History of tjie North

American Indians, edited by Archer
Butler Hulbert and William Nathaniel
Schwarze, Ohio State Archceological and
Historical Society, p. 141, 191 o. For
further information on the use of carved
wooden images among the Delaware In-
dians, see Harrington, M. R., Religion and
Ceremonies of the Lenape, Indian Notes
and Monographs (in press).

INDIAN NOTES

Indian Arts and Oratte

INDIAN NOTES
AND MONOGRAPHS

Edited by F. W. Hodge

Vol.X l».i>all) No. 8

A SERIES OF PUBLICA-
TIONS RELATING TO THE
AMERICAN ABORIGINES

A MOHAWK FORM OF RITUAL
OF CONDOLENCE, 1782

JOHN DESERONTYON

TRANSLATED, WITH AN INTRODUCTION,

J. N. B. HEWITT

NEW YORK

MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN

HEYE FOUNDATION

1928

j^rte and Oraita Boawl

This series of Indian Notes and Mono-
graphs is devoted to the publication of the
results of studies by members of the staff and
by collaborators of the Museum of the Ameri-
can Indian, Heye Foundation, and is uniform
with Hispanic Notes and Monographs,
published by the Hispanic Society of
America, with which organization this
Museum is in cordial cooperation.

A List of Publications of the Museum
will be sent on request.

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INDIAN NOTES
AND MONOGRAPHS

Edited by F. W. Hodge

A SERIES OF PUBLICA-
TIONS RELATING TO THE
AMERICAN ABORIGINES

A MOHAWK FORM OF RITUAL
OF CONDOLENCE, 1782

JOHN DESERONTYON

TRANSLATED, WITH AN INTRODUCTION,

J. N. B. HEWITT

NEW YORK

MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN

HEYE FOUNDATION

1928

Indian Arts and Oralta Boaxd

LANCASTER PRESS, INC.
LANCASTER, PA.

Art8

&m' -

A MOHAWK FORM OF RITUAL

OF CONDOLENCE,

APRIL 9, 1782

JOHN DESERONTYON

TRANSLATED, WITH AN INTRODUCTION,

J. N. B. HEWITT

FOREWORD

THE interesting Mohawk manuscript herein
reproduced in facsimile, accompanied with
both a literal and an interlinear translation
by Mr. Hewitt of the Bureau of American Ethnology,
belonged to the estate of William Kirby of Ottawa,
to whom it and other documents came down from
Colonel David Claus (sometimes written Claesse),
who was probably a native of the Mohawk valley,
New York, where he early acquired a knowledge of
the Iroquois language and was in consequence at-
tached as interpreter to the department of Sir
William Johnson, Superintendent General of Indian
Affairs, later marrying Johnson's daughter and be-
coming his Deputy. Claus translated into Mohawk
The Order For Morning and Evening Prayer, pub-
lished in Quebec in 1769, and revised and republished
in 1780. Claus died at Cardiff, Wales, in 1787.

The Deserontyon manuscript was acquired at a
sale in New York, November 30, 1925, for the late
James B. Ford, who added it to the library of the
Museum which bears his name.

INTRODUCTION

THIS manuscript briefly records a naive specimen
of the class of traditional literature relating to
the ceremonial side of the League of the Iro-
quois, which arose when the disintegrating pressure
of European culture on the integrity of the institu-
tions of the League became increasingly evident to
the intelligent leaders of the Iroquois peoples. The
immediate effect of this realization of ritualistic
disintegration was a pronounced striving for the
preservation of the usual, customary forms and
content of the several sacred rituals and chants
employed in League ceremonials.

In his Iroquois Book of Rites Mr. Horatio Hale
makes use of four such manuscripts. There are,
indeed, several others known to the writer. So, of
examples of attempts to record even faulty outlines
of certain essential rituals of the League for purely
mnemonic purposes there is a goodly number extant.
Of these some are written while others are picto-
graphic. It is seemingly apparent that so much
solicitude for the preservation of the historical tra-
ditions has not been shown. So no known recorded
examples of these are found previous to 1880.

Of the history of the recorder of this manuscript,
Captain John Deserontyon, the present writer knows

90 MOHAWK RITUAL

comparatively little. But this much may be said,
that judging solely from his name, his tribal affilia-
tion, and the dates at which his name receives notice
in available documents, there appears sufficient rea-
son for identifying him with the Captain John
Deserenton (Desetontyon and Deserontyon being other
spellings of the name) who with the celebrated
Captain Joseph Brant was a delegate from "the
Mohawk Nation of Indians residing in the province
of Upper Canada, within the dominions of the King
of Great Britain" to attend a treaty at the city of
Albany, N. Y., on March 29, 1797, "to enable New
York to extinguish the title of the said Indians to all
lands therein," and who sold for a total sum of $1600
all the right and title of these Mohawk to lands in
New York state. This identification indicates that
he was not a Caughnawaga Mohawk. In the preced-
ing year, 1796, the Caughnawaga and the St. Regis
Indians on May 23 held a treaty with Commissioners
of the State of New York in New York City for the
sale of their lands. At this treaty the Caughnawaga
were represented by two chiefs, and the St. Regis
Indians by one and by an interpreter, Mr. Gray;
but John Deserontyon was not mentioned in connec-
tion with this treaty, and so the present writer infers
that he belonged to the Mohawk of the League of the
Iroquois who at that time still retained much of their
ancient lore.

It must be noted that this manuscript regards the
so-called Seven Nations of Canada and the Caugh-

OF CONDOLENCE 91

nawaga of Canada as constituting a social organic
dualism such as that contemplated by the Constitu-
tion of the League of the Iroquois. The Iroquois
tribe and the Iroquois League of tribes could take
public action only through the functioning of a
dualism of organized groups of persons of common
blood. One of the two complementary groupings of
persons of blood kinship (either by descent or by
legal fiction) represents the Female Principle in
Nature, the Mother typifying Womankind as dis-
tinguished from the Male Kind; the other of the
groupings of blood kindreds represents the Male
Principle, the Father typifying Mankind as dis-
tinguished from the Female Kind, of the human race.
The Mother Group in a tribe is composed of a Clan
or a Sisterhood of Clans; the Father Group in a
tribe is composed of a Clan or a Sisterhood of Clans.
The League is composed of like units. The Mother
Group in the League is composed of a Sisterhood of
tribes; the Father Group is composed of a Sisterhood
of tribes.

But, the so-called Seven Nations of Canada were
not in any practical sense organic "nations" or
"tribes," within the meaning of Iroquois regimenta-
tion. At first some were merely wandering emigrant
bands from a number of well-known tribes — some
historically known, others not. Originally, these
Seven "nations" or bands were composed of the
Skighquan (i.e., the Nipissing band), the Estjage
(i.e., the Saulteur or Chippewa band), the Assisagh

92 MOHAWK RITUAL

(i.e., the Mississauga band), the Karhadaga (un-
identified), the Adgenauwe (unidentified), the Karri-
haet (unidentified), and the Adirondax (i.e., the
Algonquin, although this appears to be a very
modern application of this name). Thus it is seen
that the four known bands are offshoots from well-
known tribes which are historically known as forming
distinct communities with independent political
organizations; all the known bands are of the
Algonquian stock.

Conversely, the Caughnawaga of the manuscript
were originally composed of exiles, refugees, and dis-
loyal emigrants from the Five Confederated Tribes
of the Iroquois in what is now New York state.

These brief comments may help to explain some
of the peculiarities of the manuscript. An odd inno-
vation appears in the use of the term " wampum-
belt" at the end of the 2d and the 3d paragraphs of
Part One, and at the end of the 2d paragraph of Part
Two. This change is not at all traditional and
betrays a lack of exact knowledge of the ritual
which the recorder was seeking to write out. The
reference to the use of wampum at the close of the
paragraphs shows that the manuscript was intended
to record the ritual which the present writer has
called the Requickening Address of the Council of
Condolence and Installation of the League. No
other ritual employs wampum in any form. In
historical times the vocable "word" is employed to
represent each unit paragraph of this address and is

OF CONDOLENCE 93

tokened by one or more strings of wampum, the
color of the wampum beads being proportioned in
accordance with the content and purpose of the said
paragraph. The authentic traditional account of
the founding of the League shows that in the days of
Deganawida and Hiawatha the quills of feathers
and the twigs of the elderberry bushes, cut to suit-
able lengths and strung, were employed as are
wampum strings in modern times.

There is also a marked departure in the term of
address used between the two sides in this manu-
script: either side addresses the other as "my
brother," in the vernacular, "we two are brothers."
But this form of address discards the authentic
dualism, "Father-Mother," by disregarding the
ritualistic relationship subsisting between the two
sides. The authentic terms with their synonyms
express the Fatherhood and the Motherhood rela-
tionship subsisting between the two sides. The
speakers of the Mother Side address the Father Side
by the term akatonfni\ or by its distributive form
akatonniifson\ which signifies " my father's kinsmen,"
i.e., the group of men and women who are sym-
bolically males. Conversely, the speakers of the
Father Side address the Mother Side by the term
gonyenneta'kwe71' , which means "my weanling,"
because symbolically the Mother Side is the side of
the children.

The phrase "The Forepart of the Ceremony" is
the name applied to stated preliminary rites which

94 MOHAWK RITUAL

must be performed at the edge of the forest, con-
sisting of a Chant of Welcome by the mourning side
and the first three unit paragraphs of the Requicken-
ing Address spoken to the mourning side by the
unaffected side. But of these, outside of the phrase
just mentioned, there is nothing in the manuscript.

Another amusing innovation of the manuscript is
the naive statement that the "Goran," or Indian
Agent or Superintendent, fully agrees with the
celebrant in the recital of the ritual; such a change
could come only where the white man's officer
dominated the affairs of the natives.

The use of the name Tekarihoken, which is that of
the chief who is first on the list of the original
Mohawk League officials, has reference to the pre-
siding officer of the tribal council, but of course not
"the head-chief" of the tribe. So the name is used
officially sometimes for the entire tribe.

It is learned that Tier Asarekowa died March 25,
1782, at the age of sixty- two years. This Peter
Asarekowa seems to be the chieftain mentioned in
the manuscript.

J. N. B. Hewitt

TRANSLATION

Lachine, April 9th, 1782.
We of Caughnawaga, may we give utterance to
our voice, we, the Tekarihoken [the Mohawk], we,
whose clans number three, we, whose settlements
number 2, concerning what befell him in person,
him, the Seven Nations (of Canada) in number, in
that he now died, he who was a chief, he who was
Asharekowa [= He, the Great Knife].

1. The first thing is "The Forepart of the Cere-
mony." The tears, we have borne them elsewhere.
And also from his open throat we have dislodged the
several lodgments. And also from his outspread
mat [his abiding-place], we have wiped away the
several blood spots. Thoroughly again have we
readjusted the things (there).

Indeed, there a wampum string (is required).
The Gorah [i.e., the Superintendent], Shotsitsyo-
wanen, he and I are unanimous (in this).
None the less, there are many matters.

2. The Second Matter. Go to, my brother, thou,
the Seven Nations in number. Now, again, it is an
awful thing that has befallen thy person. Now,
thou hast lost that upon which thy two eyes rested
trustfully, he was a warrior, the establishment of
welfare by law was his duty. Now our Master
[our God] has withdrawn him again.

96 MOHAWK RITUAL

That, then, do I remember, I, who am the Mo-
hawk (I, the Tekarihoken), how that they, our
grandsires who were, had made it an ordinance;
did they not say (that) wherever it might be that
one, whose mind is left fresh and untouched, shall
at once readjust all the several things again. Now,
therefore, my brother, may I say it, I have smoothed
over the rough earth whereon, indeed, landed the
flesh of him, who was our Business, the late Ashare-
kowa [Great Knife], that is, we as one had him as
the embodiment of our affairs, so then that we speak
words over the corpse, that is it, he and I, the Gorah,
Shot sit syowanen [= He whose flower is great; i.e.,
the Superintendent], are unanimous.

There (i.e., at this point), a wampum belt (is
required).

Many, lo, are the matters in number.

The Third Matter (Rite) in Order.
3. Thou and I are brothers [= my brother]; thou,
the Seven Nations (in number). Now, do thou
continue listening along as I continue reciting the
words (of the ceremony). Did I not intend that
only once would I speak words on what has befallen
thy person today. May I, therefore, say, my
brother (lit., thou and I are brothers) that I again
draw together thy people at the place where thou
art wont to environ the fire (i.e., around the hearth
of the home, as well). And also I have again
rekindled thy (Council) fire where all manner of

OF CONDOLENCE 97

things come to thee as duties. Go thou forward.
Have courage, my brother. Thou hast the charge
of public affairs, as many in number as still remain.

Do thou not suffer it, that thy mind should be
borne hence (by grief). The only thing now to
which thou must continue to give attention is our
Law (and welfare). It is that over which thou,
the Seven Nations, art administrator.

And also, is it not true, that they, our late grand-
sires, said, perhaps, we should die were it to take
along with it, one's mind, no matter where it may
be, among those who have united their affairs,
will (it) slay with a single blow, only thou [depreca-
tively] must continue thinking that He, the Master
[i.e., God], foreordains what befalls our persons in
the course of things.

There [at this point in the ceremony] a wampum
belt (is required).

Many, lo, are the matters in number.

4. It is the Fourth Matter.

My brother [i.e., thou and I are brothers], do
thou keep listening along to my recital of the matter
of the ritual. Now, am I not today saying, Go
thou forward, do thou have courage. Thou hast
charge of public affairs. So then let me say, my
brother [thou and I are brothers], do you two,
nephew and uncle, thy nephew who is a warrior,
keep on conversing together at all times; thou must
pay heed to anything that is good to which he may
give utterance.

98 MOHAWK RITUAL

And also thou too, thou, warrior, wait to hear
anything thy uncle, the royaner [i.e., the nobleman]
of many things, to which he may give utterance.

So then, just that will come to pass, that anything
in relation to our Law that you two may ordain
shall be firmly established.

There [i.e., here] at this place a string of wampum
(is required).

Many, lo, are the things (of the ceremony) in
number.

I have written it. John Deserontyon.

Canadasege (At Newtown).

Caughnawaga April 9th, 1782.

1. The Seven Nations [lit., the Seven Lands],
these are their words at the time and place when
they spoke in reply.

My brother [lit. thou and I are brothers], thou,
Mohawk [i.e., thou, Te'seri'ho'ke11', for thou art a
Tekari'ho'ke11'], three do thy clans number. Now,
here in this place thy person has landed, at the
place where I have my mat (dwelling-place) in place,
I who am Seven Nations (Lands) in number. It is
certain that nothing exceeds what has befallen thy
person; it is certain, my brother, that thy tears
flow down in two courses. Now, then, I have
removed the tears. And also from the opening of
thy throat I have dislodged the various things
wedged therein. And also where thy mat (dwelling-

OF CONDOLENCE 99

place) is outspread, there I have set the various
things in order.

There [at this point in the ceremony] the ''Fore-
part of the Ceremony" has its place. A string of
wampum (here).

Many, lo, are the things (of the ceremony) in
number.

2. Go to, my brother [lit., thou and I are brothers],
now do thou continue listening [lit., holding out thy
ear] to those things, which thou didst do severally,
(just now) on thy side. Now, thou hast drawn
together again my ranks; and also thou hast re-
lighted the fire where I am wont to assemble my
ranks (on account) of the multifarious things, every
one of which is a duty for us. So let it come to pass
(thankfully), therefore, let me say it, my brother.

There [at this point] a wampum string (is re-
quired).

Many, lo, are the matters (of the ceremony) in
number.

3. Now, another thing, my brother [= thou and I
are brothers], there, on thy side, thou didst do,
being that that thou didst say, do thou and thy
dear nephew, he who is a warrior, keep conversing
one with the other constantly. So may it (in turn)
come to pass, therefore, may I say it, my brother,
each of the number of things to which thou didst
give utterance in words. Keep thou thinking, there-
fore, my brother, that so it will come to pass, that is,
verily I am thankful (for it), that in thinking my
thoughts my mind is again in daylight.

100 MOHAWK RITUAL

There [at this point] a wampum string (is re-
quired).

Many, lo, are the matters (of the ceremony) in
number.
Jn. Deserontyon.

[Memorandum on the last page of the manuscript.]
It tells it that a day (date) is extant that the sun
will disappear, April 12th, 1782. At eleven o'clock
daytime it will disappear. Two o'clock after mid-
day it will again peer out; so that it will be three
hours long before it reappears again.

The end.

LaChine, Apr. 9, 1782.

Caughnawaga, yakwawenni'neke11' ne" Teyak-
We Caughnawaga, let us speak the We

Tekari-

wari'ho'ke11' 'a"sen' (ni)yonkwa ta'rake' te'keni'
hoken(s) three so we are clans in two

many number

teyonkwakwe^'rare' ne" tsi' na'hoyata/we11'
two we are located in the wherein so it befell him

places

Tsa/ta'k Ni'haon'hwen'tsage' tsi' o'ne11'

(the) so many his lands are in wherein the

Seven number time

wa'ren</heye' ra'sennowa'ne11' A's'hare'ko'wan'-
he died he a chief (is) Asharekowa

ken'ha\
(who) was.

1. Tyotyeren"ton< O'hen'to11' Kan'riwate^ko11'
The first thing is (the) Front It-end of the cere-

mony (matter)

OF CONDOLENCE 101

oka^seri' e'ren< wa'kwa'ha'wi'te'; nokho'ni' tsi'
tear(s) elsewhere we bore them; and also where

te'ronnya/to'ke11' wa'tyakwa/si'haron'ko'; nokho'ni,
his throat is open we dislodged obstructions and also

severally;

tsi' ronakta/te' wa,kwanekwen'tarokewa'nyon\
where his couch we wiped away blood spots manv

stands

a'kwa' sayakwateweyenton/nyon\
fully again we set things aright in
succession.

E'ro', E'tW, oron'kwa"sa'

Surely, there a string, or strings,
of wampum.

Yakeniwefinakwe'ko11' ne" Ko'ra',
He-I are unanimous, are the Super-

agreed intendent,

S'hotsi'tsyo'wane'
Shotsitsyowanen ( = "His
Flower is Great,")

2. Tekeni'ha'ton't ori"wa\ Ni"ho'. Tyatate"k&D'
The Second it-matter Go to. Thou-I who
(is) . brothers are

Tsya'ta'(k) Niyon'hwentysa'ke' o'ne11' a're'
Seven So many lands (tribes) now (again), or

in number sometimes

yone'hra'kwa'(t) tsi' nisaya,tawen,'on'
it is amazing wherein so thy person it has

befallen it

teska'ne'ra'kwe' rosken,rake'te"ta<kwe, Kayanere11"-
two thy eyes rested he who a warrior was It-Law

(thereon)

sera' rotsteriston'ne\

he-it occupied himself in.

102

MOHAWK RITUAL

S'hofikwawefinl'yo'.
He who our God (is).

Ne" ka'ti' wake'hya'ra',on'
That conse- I it have recalled
quently

ne
the

O'ne11' tonta'hatiron'to11' ne"
Now again he has the

drawn back (him)
» u,u:> „i_ii.„x «-*/.-.«! Tekeri'ho'ken'

I who am a Mo-
hawk (i.e., a
Tekarihoken)

tsi' nit'hotiri'wisa'on'ne' ne" onkwa'sotsera'so11"-
where- so they it had the our several grand-

in thus ordained sires

ken"ha' ne"ken< ne" ron'nen' ka" ki" ok'
did not the they have wher- it may only
that said ever, be,

who were

non we*

the place
(that)

ontate'ken"soii'
they who are sev-
erally brothers
one to another

ko'nikon'ka"te'
one's mind fresh,
untouched, (is)

yokonta'tye'

right away,

at once,

(n)enwa'ton'
will it become

(ne")
(the)
(ones)

entsyonteweyeiiton -

again will one restore

things severally

nyou'.

O'ne11' ka'ti'
At this so then
time

ki"ron' wa'tka'ken<rawefi'rye' tsi'
let me I the dust disposed, where

say stirred about,

raoyeronta'-ken"ha'
his flesh-it was

ne
the

ya'kayen ta'ne'

there it fell,

alighted

onkwari'wa'-ken"ha' As'hare'kowan"-ken"ha'
our man of affairs-who Asharekowanen-who was
was "Big Knife,"

i'ken' ens'kat' yeyonkwari"wa' ne' ka'ti'
it is one there our business (is) the so then

awe^heyonta/'ke* onkwatewenon'ti', i'ken' yakeni-
the corpse on we cast our words, it is he and I

OF CONDOLENCE

103

wennakweW ne" Ko'ra' ne" S'hotsi'tsyo'wane'.
are unanimous the Super- the Shot sit syowanen.
intendent ( = "He whose

Flower is Great").

E't'ho' kayoii'ni'.
There a wampum
belt.

E'so\ sa" niyori"wake'.
Many indeed, so many mat-
lo, ters number.

3. ,A'sen<,haton'(t) ori"wa\
The third matter,

item.

Tyatate"ken' Tsya'ta'k Niyon'hwen'tsyake'
Thou and I who Seven So many (the) lands

are brothers (tribes) number

o'ne11' sat'hofitatye' wakeri'wa/sawa'tye'.
now do thou continue (as) I continue reciting
listening on the matter (ritual).

Wake'ron'-ken' en's'kat ok' e^tkewennineke^'ne'
one only will I utter a word

I intended-did I
not

tsi' nori'we'

where the place

nisaya'tawen"on<.

there it has befallen

thy body.

Ki"rofV ka'ti' tyatate"ken' o'ne11' tonsakone11"-

Let me so then thou and I now again I have

say who are brothers drawn thy

ranks together

rati're' tsi' te'satstci'rato^'kwa' niya teyori'-
where thou dost customarily all the several

surround the fire matters in number

wake^son' we'sateriVayerVhase' nokhon'ni' (for
(that) has become a duty and also
for thee

104 MOHAWK RITUAL

nok' on'ni') sakontsistayen"ha/se\ Wa"se';
and also again I have fire for thee. Go thou ;

kindled a

tsya'ko11' tyatate"ken* ori"wa' satsteris'to11' tsi'
take thou thou and I who official thou dost where
courage are brothers business attend to it

ni'ko11' yotatefi'ro11'.
so they they remain,
many
number

To"sa' ok' ne" yaka'hawi"te' ne" sa'nikon'ra\

Do not only the there it bear it the thy mind,

away hence

ok' o'ne11' tsi' ne" asatsteriston"hak ne"
only now where the thou shouldst continue the

your duties

onkwayeneren"sera\ i'ken' i'se' tsya'takwe'nl'yo'
our Law, it is thou thou art master of

it, disposer of ic,

ne" Tsya'ta'k Niyon'hwen'tsyake'.
the Seven So it many land (s)

number.

Nok^'honni' rofi'nen' wa"hi' ne" ofikvva'sot-
And also they said of course, the our grandsires

you know, individually —

sera"sonken"ha' aetewen"heye' 'on"te' ne"
who were we would die perhaps the

yakaha'wi'te' ne" ako"nikon'ra', ka" ki" ok'
hence away it the one's mind, wher- it may just
would bear it ever be

non'we* ten'tka/hra'kwa/te' tsi' niyonteri'wakha"-
the place thence it it strike where there they their
off its perch affairs have united

severally

OF CONDOLENCE

105

ho11'

ne"
the

nis"a'

ok'
only thou,
by favor

t'haweron<ha'tye'se', tsi'
thence he designs, where
purposes, it, in

E't'ho' Kayon'ni'.
There It-belt of
wampum.

E'so' sa,r niyori"wake'.
Many lo, somany^-mat-
ter(s) number

4. Kayeri"haton'(t) ori"wa\
It, the fourth ^'/-matter.

Tyatate"ken' o'nen< sat'honta'tye'
Thou and I are now do thou keep

ne' seVhek Rawenni'yo'

the thou must He-the Master

think con- (i.e., God)

tinuously

niyonkway a' tawe11 ' 'se1 .

so it our bodies befalls

customarily.

brothers

listening along

sawa'tye'.

O'ne11'

At this

time

ori"wa'

^-business,
matter

non'wa'-ke11'

the today-is

it not

wakeri'wa/-

I am reciting

the matter

along.

ka'to11',
I am

saying,

ki"ron'
let me
say it

wa"se'

do thou

ka'ti'

so
then

tsyon'waten"a'
thy dear nephew

tsya'ke11' ori"wa' satsteris'ftn',

do thou ^-business, thou hast

have matter charge of it,
courage

tyatate"ken' teseni'Vharak ne"
thou and I who do ye two keep the
are brothers on conversing
together

ro'sken'rake"te' ; en'sat'hon'tate' ne" ot'he'non'
he, the warrior; do thou give ear to it the anything

teVhawennineke^ne' ne" enkari'wiyo"hake\
thence he will give the it will be good,

utterance to it

106

MOHAWK RITUAL

Nok'hon'ni' nl'se' sa'sken'rake"te'
And also thou thou who art a

warrior

ne" ot'he'non' te^t'hawenni'neken'ne'
the anything thence he will give

utterance to it

sat'hon'dek

do thou give

ear always

to it

yano"sen'

thy uncle,

mother's

brother

roya/ne^son'.
he who is the ruler
of many things.

Ok' ka'ti' nenya'wen'ne' enyori'wa'nI'ron, ne"
Only so so it shall come it shall become a the
then to pass firm thing

ot'he'no11 enseniri'wis,,a, ne" onkwayane're^'sera'
anything ye two decide the our law

upon

E't'ho', Oron<kwa"sa'
There, (it) string of
wampum

E'so' sa" niyori"wake'.
Many lo, so many ^-item(s)
number.

Waklhya,ton\ John De'seron'tyofi'.
I it have written,

Canadasege.

At Newtown.

Caughnawaga April 9, 1782.

1. Tsya/da'k Niyon<hwentsya/ke' raotiwen'na'
Seven So many z'Mands number their word

tsi' o'nen< tonta'honta'ti':
where- at they make

in the reply:

time

OF CONDOLENCE 107

Tyatate"ken' Te'seri'ho'ke11' 'A"sen' (ni1)-
Thou and I are Thou, Mohawk three so

brothers many

sa'tara'ke' o'ne11' ken't'ho' noii'we' nisayatati'-

thy clans at this this place the where there thy body

number time has arrived

rhe"on' tsi' nofi'we' niwakenakta'te', Tsya'ta'k
where the there my mat is Seven

place spread out,

Niwakon'hwentsya/ke' kanekhe're' iya" teyoken'-
So many my lands it is not not it lacks

number doubted (anything)

ron< tsi' nisayatawefi"on' {text: nisaya'tawens)
where- so thy body has so it ails thy

in suffered body

kanekhe're' tyatate"ken' te'saka'seren'ton'nyon'
it is not thou and I are thy tears flow in two

doubted brothers courses

o'nen< ka'ti' e're11' wa'kha'wi'te' ne" oka"seri'
now so then else- I carried (them) the (it) tear(s)
where

nokhon'ni' tsi' tesanya'to'ke11' wa'teksi'haron'ko'
and also where thy throat I removed lodged

opening (is) things

nokhon'ni' tsi' tisanakta'te' wa'kateweyenton'nyon'.
and also where thy mat is I sat things to rights

spread severally.

E'tW O'hen'to11' Kari'wate"kon' oron"kwa"sa\
There Front i> ceremony, end ^-string of

of, (i.e. , the first part wampum,
of the ceremony) ,

E'so' sa", niyori"wake'.
Many lo, so many items
number.

108 MOHAWK RITUAL

2. Ni"ho', tyatate"ken' o'ne11' sat'hon'tek ne"

Go to, thou and I are at this do thou con- the
brothers time tinue to listen

ni/ken' tsi' nonta/syeran'nyon' o'ne11'

so where- thence thou didst do now

(they) in them severally
are

tonsaskene^ratiW nokhon'm' saskwateka"ten, tsi'
thence thou disdt and also thou hast where

draw together rekindled it

my people

non'we* na,tekenen<rofinya,/t<ha, niya'te-

the place there I use it to assemble every one

my ranks

teyori<wake"sorl, onkwateriVayeIi'/ha/se,; niya/wen<
^-matter(s) num- they have been left to us let there
ber severally as obligations; be thanks

ka'ti', ki"ron', tyatate"ken\ E'tW EW sa"
so then let me thou and I who There Many, lo,
say are brothers.

niyori"wake<.

so many it-mat-

ter(s) number.

Kayofi'ni'.
It-Belt of wampum.

3. O'ne11' o'ya' tyatate"ken' tsi' nonta"syere'

Now it other thou and I where- so thence
(thing) are brothers in didst thou

doit

ni'ken' ne" wa'si'rorV te'seni'Vliarak ne"
so is (it) the thou didst do ye two continue the
say to converse together

tsonwaterV'a' ro'sken'ra-ke"te\ Niya'we11' ka'ti',
thy dear he, the warrior. Let there so

nephew be thanks then,

OF CONDOLENCE

109

ki"rofi', tyatate"ken' tsi'
let me thou and I are where-
say brothers in

ni'korV

so they

many

number

nineken"ne'

nenya'wen'ne'

Se"rhek ka'ti'
Do thou so then

keep
thinking

i'ken' akwa"
so it shall come it is verily
to pass

son'to11' tsi' kenno^ton'nyo11'

again it where I am thinking my

has thoughts,
become

E'tW oron'kwa"sa\
There ^-string of
wampum.

E'so' sa" niyori'Vake*.
Many, lo, so many it mat-
ter^) number.

Jn Te'serofi'tyorV.

tyatate^ke11'

thou and I are

brothers

ta'sewen-

thence thou

didst utter

words.

e'tW

thus

(there)

niya/wen<

let there be

thanks

wen'de'
it-day-
time

[Memorandum on last page of manuscript.]

Ne" wat hro'ri' tsi

The

it tells where

ra'kwa"ton' April 12,
disappear "

or'hon'ke'ne' enwa"ton'
daylight-in will it

disappear

enyoto'hets'ton' nen'tye'
it will pass it midday

we'hni</serayen, enwate-
there is a day will ti-

extant sun

1782. 11 enkahwista"ek
" it will strike bell

2 tenkahwis'ta'ek
will it strike
the bell

entsyoke"to'te' 3 ka'ti'
will it again " so

appear. then

110 MOHAWK RITUAL

nenkahwis'ta'ek tsi' nen'we' yentsyoke"to'te'

so many it bell where there it there will it again

will strike (hours) will be appear.

going

(Yo'to'kt).
It ends.

9 >'*

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(12)

INDIAN NOTES
AND MONOGRAPHS

Edited by F. W. Hodge

VOL.X

No. 9

A SERIES OF PUBLICA-
TIONS RELATING TO THE
AMERICAN ABORIGINES

DECORATIVE ART OF THE

TETES DE BOULE OF

QUEBEC

DAVIDSON

NEW YORK

MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN

HEYE FOUNDATION

1928

Arte and Cndtto

A List of Publications of the Museum
will be sent on request.

Museum of the American Indian
Heye Foundation

Broadway at 155th St.
New York City

INDIAN NOTES
AND MONOGRAPHS

Edited by F. W. Hodge

Vol. X

No. 9

A SERIES OF PUBLICA-
TIONS RELATING TO THE
AMERICAN ABORIGINES

DECORATIVE ART OF THE

TETES DE BOULE OF

QUEBEC

D. S. DAVIDSON

NEW YORK

MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN

HEYE FOUNDATION

1928

2p&b*x*

A***

ajxd

Qrt^ts

LANCASTER PRESS, INC.
LANCASTER, PA.

DECORATIVE ART OF THE

TETES DE BOULE OF

QUEBEC

D. S. DAVIDSON

LLl
h

I-

DECORATIVE ART OF THE TETES DE
BOULE OF QUEBEC

D. S. Davidson

THE Tete de Boule Indians, who occupy the
upper St. Maurice district of Quebec, are in
many respects a typical band of the north-
eastern Algonkians. Like their neighbors they are
semi-nomadic hunters, devoting most of their time
to trapping operations in the bush. Although they
have been known to Europeans since the early days
of New France,1 their contact with civilization until
recent times has never been intense; nevertheless,
their reactions to the European influences which
have penetrated to them have been both interesting
and peculiar. In respect to culture modification,
the art work of these people may be taken as a
unique example.

1 The Jesuits speak of the Attikamegues and of the
Whitefish tribe as inhabiting the upper Three Rivers, a
term which they applied to what is now the St. Maurice.
The Tetes de Boule at Weymontachingue call themselves
TcekameW iriniwak, or whitefish people. Obviously the
terms are cognates. Vide Jesuit Relations and Allied
Documents, edited by Edna Kenton, pp. 161, 162, 165,
459, 460, New York, 1925.

115

116 DECORATIVE ART OF THE

ACCULTURATION

The introduction of European material culture
into a native group, in those cases where native
populations are not disrupted by war and disease,
usually adds great zest to native artistry and
ornamentation. The securing of silk threads, col-
ored cloths, glass beads, steel needles and knives,
and the other usual utensils and articles to be found
in a trader's stock, in most instances produces a
great art stimulation, for with these acquirements
the esthetic ambition of a group may be more
easily realized. The modern art work of the
Iroquois, the Plains tribes, and the Labrador bands,
among many others, may be pointed out as exempli-
fications of this stimulus. The Tetes de Boule, on
the other hand, seem to have had a reaction quite
dissimilar. Instead of accentuating their develop-
ment in decorative art, the influence of civilization
seems to have had the opposite effect, and today we
find their decorative work in a very impoverished
condition. Not only is their esthetic endeavor
meager, but, generally speaking, their art is often
executed in slovenly fashion. Of course, nothing
seems to be known about the decorative art of these
particular people in the past, but it would seem
probable that its development was not less intense
than that of their neighbors to the east where a
strong art tradition is not only still retained, but in
all probability is much enhanced over its former

TETES DE BOULE 117

condition. Why this degeneration of Tete de Boule
art from a supposedly higher standard has taken
place will probably never be known. Apparently it
is one of those unexplainable whims of preliterate
culture.

DECORATION OF BIRCH-BARK BOXES

Decoration among the Tetes de Boule is confined
to only two main types of articles — birch-bark
containers (s., wigwamuti, bark receptacle) and
moccasins (s., masklsin). The techniques include
etching in positive relief — that is, by scraping away
the dark coating on the inner surface of the birch-
bark, leaving designs standing forth in the dark
foreground with a light background. Another
feature of decoration is the use of spruce-root
lashings and bindings in different colors around the
rims. Silk-thread embroidery and the use of braid
form decorative processes on moccasin vamps. The
use of glass beads seems to be unknown,1 at least it is

1 Beadwork has been assigned to the Tetes de Boule by
Dr. Speck in his monograph, The Double-curve Motive in
Northeastern Algonkian Art, Memoir 42, Dept. of Mines,
Ottawa, 1914, vide table, p. 15. There now live with the
Lake St. John Montagnais several families of Tetes de
Boule who are descendants of the now disrupted band of
Kokokash Tetes de Boule. It is possible that this group
practised beadwork, but more probable that they acquired
the art since joining the Montagnais. Among the latter
it is an important industry.

Porcupine quillwork may have been important in the
past. The Jesuits report a headband made of this
material among the Attikamegue (Jesuit Relations, vol.
32, p. 285).

118 DECORATIVE ART OF THE

not practised at the present day, nor could any
information be obtained as to its former existence.
Porcupine quillwork and moose-hair embroidery are
also absent. Woodcarving has been noticed on only
two specimens — a small wooden ladle and a cradle-
board which I was unable to obtain. The end of the

Fig. 1. — Decorated cradle -board (back view) of Manouan sub-band
of Tetes de Boule.

handle of the ladle is carved into the representation
of what appears to be a beaver head. All other
Tete de Boule wooden ladles are undecorated, some
being but crudely made. The decorations on the
cradle-board are shown in figs. 1 to 4. The heart

TETES DE BOULE

119

may be the indirect result of Christian influence,
for this design could easily have been derived from
the bitten-bark patterns herein described. The

Fig. 2. — Front view of cradle-board shown in fig. 1.

dots, leaves, and triangles are consistent with the
motives appearing on the birch-bark containers.
Practically all of the specimens illustrated in this

120 DECORATIVE ART OF THE

paper were collected by the writer during several
visits to the Tetes de Boule. They are now in the
collections of the Museum of the American Indian,
Heye Foundation.

MIMiMMilttl'lttftX

Fig. 3. — Detail of design on back of cradle-board in fig. 1.

The Tetes de Boule manufacture a great variety of
birch-bark containers which range in size from small
boxes of a few inches in length to large trunk-like
hampers capable of holding a bushel or more. A
splendid example of the latter, 20| by 16 inches, is
shown in fig. 5, a. It will be noticed that the grain of
the bark runs with the length and not with the
breadth as in all the other containers. The total
width of this piece of bark is approximately four

TETES DE BOULE

121

feet, and therefore it must have been taken from one
of the largest trees of the locality. Trays are
sometimes made, but seem to be rather uncommon.
The one pictured in pi. I is a fine example and of
quite pretentious size, measuring 23§ by ll| by 5f
inches.

One of the characteristics of Tete de Boule con-
tainers is their approximately rectangular shape.

Fig. 4. — Detail of design on foot of cradle-board in fig. 1.

This feature holds true for the tops and generally
for the side and end walls as well. The dimensions
of the rim and cover usually do not fall far below the
measurements of the bottom, and this contributes to
the rectangular appearance. When the Tete de
Boule objects are compared with the corresponding
articles made by some of the other bands of the
general region, the contrast is quite noticeable, for
very often the containers of the latter have oval
rims and covers, and the sides are more tapering.

122 DECORATIVE ART OF THE

TETES DE BOULE

123

124 DECORATIVE ART OF THE

The side walls, in addition, are often higher in
proportion to the length, and this serves to accentu-
ate the tapering appearance.

DESIGN ELEMENTS

Very few of the Tete de Boule birch-bark boxes
are decorated, those shown in figs. 5 and 6 being
average examples. When designs occur on the
birch-bark they are always etched in a positive style.
Figs. 7 to 13 inclusive show a var'ety of the design
elements. It will be noticed, if one observes closely,
that when a design appears repeatedly on a bark
vessel, its dimensions and form in many cases seem
to be identical. This condition appears to be
especially striking on the wigwamuti portrayed in
fig. 10, for here great pains were taken in the
decoration. The similarity described is not the
outcome of able freehand sketching on the part of
each artist, but is due to the use of patterns fashioned
by cutting pieces of folded birch-bark. When the
bark is unfolded a double design of the original figure
is formed. These patterns are then outlined on the
objects to be decorated wherever the designs are
desired. Figs. 7, 10, 12, and 13 well illustrate these
symmetrical figures. Sometimes, however, the pat-
terns are cut from a single thickness of bark, as for
example the duck designs shown in fig. 8. It is
apparent that at least two different duck patterns
were used in the decoration of this vessel, the two
ducks in the upper row being obviously derived from

TETES DE BOULE

125

a different pattern from the one or ones used in the
middle and lower rows. In this particular instance
it is impossible to say definitely just how many
patterns were used, for very often the outlining from

Fig. 7. — Birch-bark container. Length 6 in., height 4| in.

the selected pattern is hastily or carelessly performed,
and as a consequence some distortion of the original
results. After the patterns have been used they are
not destroyed nor thrown away, but are put aside for
future use. Some are retained and used for years.

126 DECORATIVE ART OF THE

If these patterns were a little more individual in
style it would be possible perhaps to recognize in
collections made year after year the work and
decoration of various persons.

mm*

**m.

Fig. 8. — Birch-bark container. Length 6 in., height 4| in.
(14/3080)

After the patterns have been outlined on the
places to be decorated, the surface of the bark is
moistened. When it is well soaked it is possible to
remove the thin dark layer with a sharp or hard
instrument. The inside of the container, which is

TETES DE BOULE

127

007^

"*-fl

.On

flX!

•-1 -4->

o
cs

128 DECORATIVE ART OF THE

Fig. 10. — Birch-bark container. Length 15^ in., height 1 If in.
(14/7845)

TETES DE BOULE

129

the outer surface of the bark, is never scraped nor
decorated. There is no difference in use between the

Fig. 11. — End view of the container shown in fig. 10. (14/7845)

decorated and plain containers, for all serve utili-
tarian purposes. The larger ones may be used as
clothes hampers, supply boxes, or as general storage

130 DECORATIVE ART OF THE

receptacles. The smaller ones may serve as sewing
boxes, sugar bowls, or as the keeping places for
accumulated oddments.

In the decoration of the bark vessels both realistic
and geometrical elements are present. It is seldom
that one motive is practised to the exclusion of the
other, but more often both are to be found in an
inconsistent arrangement on each single decorated
box. When decoration occurs, the long side walls
usually receive the most attention; next in impor-
tance are the ends, and finally the cover. As will be
seen in the accompanying illustrations, each wall of a
decorated container has been treated independently
and with complete disregard of the design elements
which may have been used on the opposite side.
Figs. 7 and 8 show the two sides of one wigwamuti.
Here, except for some semicircular figures around
the rim, the one side is decorated almost entirely with
ducks. The opposite wall, however, contains a plant
figure with what appear to be flowers, fruit, or
leaves, while along its rim triangular figures have
been placed. There is no cover for this specimen.
Fig. 9 portrays Tete de Boule decoration in its most
slovenly form. The one side wall of this specimen
depicts a solitary duck or loon carelessly etched in
the mottled appearing surface which the artist has
not taken the trouble to scrape thoroughly. At
first glance the arrangement of the leaves on the
cover seems to be idiotic at best, but the condition
of the bark was responsible for this selection. This

TETES DE BOULE

131

particular container was made very late in the spring
when the bark cannot be worked with facility and
when, consequently, decoration is quite difficult to
apply. Moreover, the brown inner surface is in an

*1»

:tM#N#M^A^#4

'<zm%mmmk&*mt

Fig. 12. — Opposite side of container shown in fig. 10. (14/7845)

especially poor condition at this period. These
circumstances may excuse the artist from excellent
work, but they seem to constitute a rather poor
apology for such a monstrosity in decoration.

The better type of Tete de Boule endeavor in
realistic decoration is shown in figs. 10 to 12. These

132 DECORATIVE ART OF THE

picture the cover, two sides, and an end of a single
container. The cover is quite pleasing in appearance
and the decorative elements are well arranged. The
figures in the center and corners represent ducks, and
the other elements were said to be leaves. The
dotted arrangement around the edge represents the
stitching of the two pieces of bark of which the cover
is composed. Ducks, leaves, and triangles are used
on one side, while canoes, leaves, and a motive which
probably was intended to show diamonds but which
in appearance is partly zigzag, are found on the
other. The end view well illustrates the incon-
sistency in the decoration of the two sides.

DUCK MOTIVE

The duck motive is a common one throughout this
general region, except to the east, where it seems to
be unimportant although present in Montagnais
ornamentation. To the south and southwest it is to
be found among the Grand Lake Victoria and Lake
Barriere bands, according to statements made to me
by members of those bands, although I have not
seen any actual specimens which portrayed this
design. Farther to the southwest it occurs at
Timagami,1 while to the north it has been noticed
among the Waswanipi 2 and Eastern Cree.3 Because

1 Material collected by Dr. Speck.

2 Information secured in the field which has been
verified by Rev. Dr. John M. Cooper.

3 Skinner, A. B., Notes on the Eastern Cree and Northern
Saulteaux, Anthr. Papers Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. ix,
pt. 1, p. 46, New York, 1911.

TETES DE BOULE

133

Fig. 13. — Birch-bark container. Length 9\ in., height 8£ in.
(14/2075)

134 DECORATIVE ART OF THE

of an insufficiency of collected material, further
extension of its distribution cannot be made at this
time. Among all these groups the duck motive
appears to be present only on the sides and covers of
birch-bark containers. There it is etched in positive
relief in the manner described. The Hudson Bay,
Ungava, and Labrador Eskimo should be included
perhaps within this area of distribution, for the duck
seems to be a common subject among their sculptured
ivory work.1

The place of origin of the two containers shown in
figs. 14 to 17 cannot be definitely asserted, although
both seem to have come from the region of Obidjuan.
Neither, however, was secured directly from the
Indians. One was obtained by Dr. Speck at
Weymont from Mr. Delair who had picked it up at
Obidjuan; the other was procured by the writer
from Mr. Edwardson at Oscalaneo. Neither Mr.
Delair nor Mr. Edwardson remembered from whom
the respective containers had been obtained. Since
Indians from Waswanipi go to Obidjuan and
Oscalaneo each summer, there is a possibility that
both may have been derived from that source.
Both are decorated in a similar geometrical style,
dots, lines, and zigzags predominating. The cover
of one (fig. 16) is also well ornamented with the

1 Turner, L. M., Ethnology of the Ungava District,
Hudson Bay Territory, 11th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer
Ethnol., p. 260, Washington, 1894; Hawkes, E. W., The
Labrador Eskimo, Memoir 91, Geol. Surv., pi. 32, Ottawa,
1916.

TETES DE BOULE

135

Fig. 14. — Birch-bark container of undetermined origin. Length 10 in.
height 9 in. (13/7002)

136 DECORATIVE ARTOFTHE

stitch design. This container does not have the end
flaps cut out like the others, and in addition these
flaps are sewed to the container at the bottom as
well as in the usual semicircular fashion. It must

Fig. 15. — Opposite side of the container shown in fig. 14. (13/7002)

also be pointed out that on both of these boxes the
stitching is widely separated, and this is in distinct
contrast to that noticeable on the average bona fide
Tete de Boule container. Questioning of the Tetes

TETESDEBOULE 137

Fig. 16. — Birch-bark container of undetermined origin. Length 8£ in.,
height 6| in. (14/3094)

138 DECORATIVE ART OF THE

de Boule themselves did not elucidate the matter.
At the present time very little is known about the
decorative art of the Waswanipi, hence until material

Fig. 17. — Opposite side of container shown in fig. 16. (14/3094)

is forthcoming from them it seems allowable to
maintain an attitude of skepticism on this point.
The covers of the containers are generally without

TETES DE BOULE 139

decoration. The ones shown in figs. 9, 10, and 16
do not represent those ordinarily found. Practically
every cover, however, except the very small ones,
shows some stitching in the center, and this often
assumes an artistic form. The incentive to decorate
the centers of the covers is strictly the result of a
utilitarian need, for, as the covers consist of two
layers of bark, some stitching is needed to prevent
bulging. Figs. 5, 10, 13, and 14 illustrate the usual
method of joining the two layers. The esthetic
possibilities which this feature may attain may be
seen in fig. 9, a, b. Another cover feature is the
stitch design which often appears around the edge
and which has already been mentioned.

Rim Decoration

The rim of a wigwamuti is composed of a rim
proper made of wood and spruce-root lashings
(otabl) which fasten it to the container. These
lashings are wound around the wood in continuous
fashion and in such manner that each loop is passed
through a small hole awled in the bark vessel and
then is wound upward and over the rim again. The
lashings are placed close together, so that each loop
touches the parallel loops on each side of it. Very
often two loops are passed through the same hole in
order to conserve the strength of the bark, for if a
hole were made for every loop, fraying of the bark
might occur. At the rounded " corners" sometimes
as many as three loops are passed through the same

140 DECORATIVE ART OF THE

hole. In these cases there is an additional incentive,
for in order to retain the regular interval of the
lashings along the outer and consequently longer
ledge, and on the top, the shorter inner margin
requires that an overlapping be made. The desired
result of external appearance is thus secured through
this method of wrapping.

The roots are rarely retained in their natural hue,
but are generally dyed in varying shades of the
primary colors, hence a fine opportunity for a
decorative scheme presents itself. Differently col-
ored roots are wrapped around the rim in blocks
at intervals which vary according to the ideas of the
maker. Each block is contiguous to the next; that
is, there is no break in the continuous wrapping
around the rim. Usually the middles of the four
sides are wrapped in the same color. Proceeding
from the middles in both directions the contiguous
colors are identical; likewise the third colors are
respectively the same, and so on until the corners are
met. In pi. I the large tray well illustrates this
decorative principle. The arrangement of the
lashings may also be noticed in the pictures of the
other bark objects.

In some cases the color scheme may run in a
sequence such as white, red, green, white, red, green,
this order being followed around the complete rim.
While there may be a few cases in which the rim
decoration may be irregular, it must be emphasized
that in respect to the use of colored lashings the

TETES DE BOULE 141

Tete de Boule containers appear to be entirely
consistent. Of the scores which the writer has
collected or examined in the field, not one has been
seen which did not correspond in this feature.

The distribution of this particular style of rim
decoration is a problem which has never received the
serious attention of anyone. To the south of the
Tetes de Boule it seems to be lacking entirely. The
Lake St. John Montagnais to the east use it but
little, according to Dr. Speck; but among the
Mistassini to the north it is very common, if not
characteristic. The Grand Lake Victoria and Lake
Barriere bands to the southwest, according to
verbal information as well as by an examination of a
few specimens, seem not to practise this decorative
scheme. The rims of their birch-bark vessels are
characterized by wrappings in the plain undyed color
of the roots, and they are therefore unattended by
any arrangement of an esthetic nature. In this
respect they agree with their southwestern neighbors,
the Timagami and Timiskaming. Farther to the
southwest are the Ojibwa, who likewise seem to
lack the colored rim element. Among the Atha-
bascans however, the use of colored rim lashings
seems to be well known and practised over a wide
area. Specimens from many places which are in the
Museum of the American Indian, the University
Museum at Philadelphia, and the McGill Museum of
Montreal, show many examples of this nature,
although the styles of manufacture of the containers

142 DECORATIVE ART OF THE

themselves are quite different. For the regions
intermediate to those mentioned nothing may be
said until the necessary material has been collected
from the field.

Moccasin Decoration

Aside from the birch-bark containers, the moccasin
is the only other article of the Tetes de Boule which
receives much decoration. Moccasins are of three
main types, as shown in figs. 18 and 19. Of these
three the ordinary puckered moccasin constitutes at
least ninety percent of the moccasins manufactured.
The Weymontachingue Tetes de Boule produce
annually hundreds of pairs of moccasins which they
sell to the Hudson's Bay Company. These are
shipped to other posts where they are sold to the
Indians whose region has become devoid of moose
and caribou, and where consequently there now
exists little material for the manufacture of this type
of footwear. At Weymont, therefore, I found it
possible to examine a multitude of new and unworn
moccasins in addition to those worn by the natives
themselves. There are no differences between those
manufactured for export and those made for home
use.

The ordinary puckered moccasin is usually plain
except for a line or two of silk braid which may be
sewed around the margin of the vamp (fig. 18, a).
In some cases even this feature has been dispensed
with. In a few pairs I found this type of decoration

INDIAN NOTES AND MONOGRAPHS

VOL. X, NO. 9, PL. II

L-K

MOCCASIN VAMP DESIGNS OF COARSE TYPE

TETES DE BOULE

143

O
JO

»0 ^T

144 DECORATIVE ART OF THE

J^.

"ft

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3 -a

INDIAN NOTES AND MONOGRAPHS

VOL. X, NO. 9, PL. Ill

%=.■".*. '

MOCCASIN VAMP DESIGNS OF INTERMEDIATE TYPE

TETES DE BOULE

145

to consist of silk thread. Various types of stitching
were used, according to the will of the maker.
Some of these may be distinguished in fig. 19, a-c.
There seems to be no general symbolic significance

Fig. 20.— Mittens with braid decoration. (13/7006)

for this type of decoration, although one old woman
told me that the single line represented a river and
that a zigzag line implied rapids. This interpre-
tation seemed to be entirely her own, for I could find
no substantiation for it among the other women.
The use of a line or two of silk braid for decorative

146 DECORATIVE ART OF THE

purposes is not confined entirely to moccasins, but
may also be applied to the cuffs of mittens (fig. 20),
bags, and other leather articles. The rim of the
moccasin is often improved in appearance by the
addition of tape or a strip of cloth as in fig. 19, b.

Fig. 21. — Moccasin vamps decorated before cutting and joining to the
soles. The dark denotes red, the light indicates blue. (14/3084)

This feature is to be found even on some winter
moccasins, in spite of the added uppers.

A great many moccasins, although their proportion
of the total is not large, have floral designs sewn on
the vamps. These range in quality of workmanship
from carelessly made coarse stitching in silk thread

INDIAN NOTES AND MONOGRAPHS

VOL. X, NO. 9, PL. IV

MOCCASIN VAMP DESIGN OF FINE TYPE BUT OF A SINGLE COLOR

TETES DE BOULE

147

148 DECORATIVEARTOFTHE

TETESDEBOULE 149

of one color to finely executed designs in which
threads of many colors are utilized. PI. II illustrates
the former type, and pi. v, c, portrays the latter.
The latter is from Waswanipi and surpasses in
quality all of the Tete de Boule specimens which
the writer has seen. A few approach it in fineness
of detail. The designs are sewn to the vamps before
the latter are attached to the body of the moccasin
(fig. 21) and are sewn in the blind-stitch fashion,
most of the stitches not passing through the thickness
of the leather.

BITTEN-BARK PATTERNS

It will be noticed that the floral designs are all
more or less similar in general character. Indi-
vidually the right and left halves are always identical.
This matter of symmetry is dictated by the method
of selecting the designs used. This method consists
of biting patterns in birch-bark. A rectangular
piece of bark of about 3| by 5 inches is peeled until a
layer of the desired thinness is obtained.1 This

lKohl, J. G., Kitchi Garni, p. 412, London, 1860,
speaks of birch-bark biting among the Ojibbeways.
"This is an art which the squaws chiefly practice in
spring in their sugar plantations. Still they do not all
understand it, and only a- few are really talented." Kohl
proceeds to tell of the selection of the bark and how it
was doubled and thrust between the teeth. In reference
to the biting, he remarks, "The bark is not bitten into
holes, but only pressed with the teeth, so that, when the
designs are held up, they resemble to some extent those
pretty porcelain transparencies made as light-screens."

150 DECORATIVE ART OF THE

d c

:</

f / / >l \ \ \

Fig. 24. — Showing the method of folding and biting birch-bark to
produce moccasin designs.

TETES DE BOULE 151

piece is then folded double, the fold running with the
grain, as indicated in fig. 24. The upper third, c-x,
is next folded down as shown, the fold c-d being at
right angles to c-x. Lastly, a fold is made along the
axis c-e, obliquely to x-y, the corner d being brought
over and superimposed along the line c-y. As will
be noticed, the section c-d-e is composed of eight
thicknesses of bark, each triangle being of 45°.
While held in this shape the bark is inserted between
the teeth and impressions are made along the line
c-e and across the angle d-c-e. It should be pointed
out that these teeth-marks are made in a curve and
in such manner that both ends of the curve intercept
the axis c-e, for in order to have the bitten pattern
contiguous from one thickness to the next when the
pattern is unfolded, it is necessary that the bitten
curve touch the axis common to them both.

The bark is unfolded until only the main fold x-y is
retained. The lower third then undergoes a similar
process, but in this case only one additional fold is
made and this usually at an angle of about 120° with
x-y. Four thicknesses result, and these are bitten
along the axis h-g. The original fold is then returned
to and the design in the upper part is joined to the
lower one by biting along the axis x-y. Very often
extensions are made along x-y below the lower
design. On the unfolding of x-y the design is
complete and ready for use. From it the pattern is
sketched on the leather pieces intended for the
vamps. In some cases the design is sewed on free-

152 DECORATIVE ART OF THE

hand, but the bitten pattern always serves as the
guide. One pattern may be used for many pairs of
moccasins, and in time it becomes committed to
memory.

The bitten-bark patterns appear to be common to
all the peoples between Newfoundland and the
Plains. Although definite conclusions of their im-
portance cannot be considered in this paper, it may
be hinted that in them perhaps lie the origins of the
two main art motives of northeastern North America.
As we have seen, the use of bitten-bark patterns
dictates certain limits in which the general outlines of
the art designs shall fall. If the bark is folded, as it
seems to be wherever bark-biting is practised, a
symmetry is bound to result If just one fold is
made, it is impossible to avoid a duplication on each
half. When a second, and in some cases a third,
fold is made, the bitten element appears four and
eight times respectively.

As has been said, these birch-bark patterns
are very common throughout northeastern North
America. Ultimately, when a sufficient number has
been collected to permit a thorough study of their
different types, new light may be shed on the origins
of the various art motives for this part of the
continent. The technologic result of a use of bitten-
bark patterns is a symmetry, and this seems to be
not only the fundamental element of the floral
designs of the Tetes de Boule, but also the basic
feature of the double-curve motive, as it occurs

TETESDEBOULE 153

among the Montagnais-Naskapi art to the east.
Granted that both peoples originally had similar
patterns, it would seem to be logical to suspect that
entirely different interpretations might have been
rendered. The eastern peoples may have been
impressed by the geometrical feature of the design,
and as a result may have developed their art along
this line. The Tetes de Boule, and others perhaps,
may have seen in the same design only elements of
realism. No imagination is required to interpret in
this simple symmetry a stem with leaves, a branch,
or, more simply, a forked stick. On the basis of this
reasoning it would seem to have been not impossible
for the double-curve motive, which predominates
eastward from the Riviere Trenche, and the floral
design, which extends westward from the same river,
to have originated from a common source. Until
more becomes known, however, no definite con-
clusions may be drawn. Among the Tetes de Boule,
it may be stated, there appears to be a noticeable
trend toward a truer realism when the old con-
ventional method of selecting the designs from the
bitten patterns is dispensed with. In pi. vi are
shown examples of stems to which floral elements are
attached in an unsymmetrical fashion. These de-
signs and similar ones often are to be noticed when
the decoration is determined by freehand methods.

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